


Oh So Childish

by OnyxianDrake



Series: Oh, Lamias! [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bittybones (Undertale), Angst, Based on Vex-Bittys lamias, Biting, Character Death, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Inhuman Practices, Mildly troubled family life, Sad, Suspicious Organization, Swearing, Vague description of mouse eating, cuteness, euthanization, lamiatale, mild name calling, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 55,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23004631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnyxianDrake/pseuds/OnyxianDrake
Summary: He really wasn't that upset about being returned, really. They weren't a good match, he could find another owner! Someone nicer, who liked his puns and holding him, who wouldn't put him in a cage and want nothing to do with him. But first, he needed to be put back up front in the shop, if only this darn quarantine would end.Then there's the new employee, he isn't sure how to feel about her, she reminds him too much of...his previous owner.But he's fine, really!
Series: Oh, Lamias! [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1764436
Comments: 348
Kudos: 269





	1. Chapter 1

There was a new girl working at the shop. He could hear her from his private little enclosure, speaking to Sammie, the nice manager. It was muffled through the door, but he could hear it clearly enough.

“There’s a few bags of dog feed that need to be moved up front, could you do that while I monitor this family?”

“Sure.”

He flicked his tongue, sighing softly and adjusting how he was resting on his coils. The back room was quiet, dim and cool, something that wasn’t exactly meant for his species of bitty, but thankfully Sammie had plugged in a small heating pad for him. He still hadn’t decided if he liked the quiet and lack of humans looking at him, considering he was alone in his cage.

It was more meant for a cat or dog than it was for any bitty or lamia, considering he had been in a nice, warm enclosure with other Cornies. That was before he’d been adopted. He’d been returned, and although his soul panged faintly at the fact his owner hadn’t wanted to deal with him, he knew it was the best for both of them. It hadn’t been a good match, and they hadn’t been horrible...but they could have been better.

He wondered when he’d be able to be put up front again. He didn’t have any cuddle buddies in the chilly back room, just his blankets and heating pad to take comfort from. Sammie handled him often enough, she knew all bitties needed some kind of company and contact. The mornings and evenings were enjoyable when he did get that contact, being tucked up against her chest, curled up in her infinity scarf.

Unfortunately that was only during the morning, the rest of the day after opening he was closed back up in his cage, and then again for the night. At least he got nuggets for every meal, despite the fact he disliked the sad, sympathetic look Sammie would give him during feeding time.

He gave a small huff, picking at a loose string on his blanket. It wasn’t like he was abused or anything, he wasn’t even upset, really! He knew he was one of the luckier returned bitties, he wasn’t hurt, and he hadn’t ever really...bonded with his owner. They’d been distant, and didn’t like him talking, so he just hadn’t tried after the first few times. Then they’d brought him back, and that was that. He didn’t care, he could find a new owner who did like his puns and company.

That would only happen if he was ever let out of the backroom, though, and although Sammie did try to carry conversations with him during opening, closing or feeding, he never got an answer when he asked. It was like she didn’t want him to know, and it left him somewhat bitter when he lingered on it too much.

He curled up tighter, sighing sharply and closing his sockets, planning to sleep the day away again.

As much as he loved naps, he was getting a little tired of that being the only thing he could do. With his previous owner, with being in the backroom, there was no talking, there was no activities to do. It was sleeping and feeding, the only good part being Sammie holding him.

The worst days were when Chad was working, another manager from a shop on the other side of the city. HEdidn’t like dealing with the lamias, or any reptiles of the shop, from what he’d heard him muttering when her had to give them crickets or mice. He’d at least thought he’d give him nuggets to forgo dealing with frozen-thawed mice, but nope, and he glared at him the entire time.

It was pretty amusing when he took the mouse, not put off by the food, despite it not being his favorite. He could almost laugh at how disgusted he seemed when he would swallow it whole, but he’d leave before he could, leaving him giggling alone in his cage. It was the only highlight of those bad days. Those were the days he wouldn’t be held, and there’d be no conversation.

Sometimes he wished even the volunteers would come show him some kind of attention, or maybe he could nap with a kitten or puppy, but Sammie said they could get in trouble, so he stopped asking. The volunteers weren’t even allowed in the backroom, where dropped off rescues would wait to be transferred to a vet or shelter, or the returned pets would be quarantined.

He was fairly certain the girl he’d heard earlier had to be a new volunteer, there hadn’t been anyone new for awhile. Not hired, anyways, it had always been Sammie or Chad. Since he was there the first time, to now being returned and kept in the back room. He was tempted to ask again when he’d be let out, after all, it’d been a week, maybe quarantine was two weeks?

He didn’t even know why he’d be quarantined, it wasn’t like lamias could get sick, much less carry germs. They were magic, just like the other bitties, despite their somewhat more organic appearing lower halves.

He huffed when the backroom door opened, Sammie stepping in and walking over with a soft smile.

“Hey buddy,” She greeted, unlocking and opening the cage, something he could easily do himself, but hadn’t been bothered enough to do so. “Dinner time.”

Had it really been that long already? He flicked his tongue, sitting up and stretching before slithering forward, thanking her quietly as he took the offered nugget, chowing down on the warm food. He softly purred, focusing on the food to not see the look he knew Sammie was giving him.

“When will I be let out of quarantine?” He asked mid-way through his nugget, glancing up and earning a blink of surprise before Sammie sighed.

He didn’t stop watching her as she gently pet his skull with a finger, “Just another week, little guy, then you can get back out front and hopefully get adopted again!”

He nodded simply, finishing up the nugget in three big bites before slithering back to the corner of the cage, coiling up on his heat pad as the door was shut again and Sammie left the dark room quietly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new employee joins the mix! Perhaps she is more than meets the eye? Sammie sure thinks so!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No content warnings this chapter!

Sierra sighed as she entered the bitty shop, nerves nearly shot just at all the eyes on her. Small eyes, not even just eyeballs, eyelights as well. The animals she could handle, she loved them, but the bitties...they were just…too human-like to her. She ducked her head as she headed for the little puppy enclosures, letting them follow her fingers, and looking over the kittens, who all seemed to have unanimously agreed to a designated nap time.

“Hello!”

Sierra wouldn’t admit a small squeak escaped her at the sudden, loud and very, very close greeting from the employee that seemed to materialize next to her. Or maybe she’d been daydreaming again and didn’t see the older lady. Yeah, it was probably the ladder, easily.

“Hi,” Sierra barely got out once she regained her bearings, smiling politely.

“My name’s Sammie, I’m the manager in charge of the shop today,” The lady introduced herself, just as bright, although thankfully not as loud. “Is there anything I can help you with? Looking to adopt a kitten?”

“Oh, uh…” Sierra fumbled over her works. “No, uh, my mom would kill me if I brought home a cat.” She chuckled nervously. “I’m...actually here to ask if there are any openings to work here?”

Sammie’s brows raised, as if surprised, and she seemed speechless for a moment as well.

“Oh! Well, yes, we do, but generally we have more volunteers than people looking to work here,” She began to ramble, waving Sierra along to follow her as she headed for the back of the store.

Sierra was quick to follow a few feet behind, hands fiddling with her phone, glancing around. She met eyes with a few bitties and immediately turned her gaze back to the red head, stopping at the counter as Sammie dug around a few drawers out of sight.

“Aha! Here’s the application, and there will be a background check, but otherwise you’re good to go! If you’d like I can get you a pen, and you can fill it out now, or come back with it,” She rambled along, offering the papers to Sierra, who took them gingerly. “Oh! My apologies, I never learned your name?”

“Sierra,” The shorter brunette offered, another polite smile sent towards Sammie.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sierra! I hope to see you again!”

Sammie waved as the teen left, smiling widely at the bell above the door before a weight was sitting on her shoulder, a small hand holding to the thick hoop of her earring.

“...she seemed interestin’,” Brutus commented sarcastically, the Edgy tugging on the earring unforgivingly. “Ya sure it’s a good idea ta have a teenager workin’ here?”

“She  _ was _ interesting!” Sammie commented back enthusiastically, undaunted. “I’m sure she’ll be great!”

“She didn’ seem ta even wanna be here.”

“You’re so bad at reading people, Brutus, really,” Sammie clicked her tongue, taking the Edgy off her shoulder, receiving a new line of tiny punctures to the finger but not even flinching. “That poor girl was probably just anxious! And she has to be at least around sixteen to be looking around here for a job. It’ll be fine.”

“If you say so.”

-

“How did the job search go?”

Sierra grimaced at the question, glancing back as her mom dropped her stuff off at the door.

“It went okay. I got an application form from Petopolis,” She shrugged, leaning back when her mom came over and picked up the almost finished form, looking it over before setting it back down.

“That’s good, maybe it’ll finally get you out of the house.”

“Hopefully,” Sierra replied back blandly. “I’m going to head upstairs.”

“Alright. I’ll call you down when dinner is ready!”

Sierra simply hummed in response, hurrying up the stairs and closing her bedroom door behind her.

-

“Hey, Sierra! I’ll be there with you in a minute!” Sammie called out, finishing up packing a care bag and handing it to the small family with a wide smile.

Sierra watched them pass in her peripheral as she headed up to the desk, fidgeting with the strap of her satchel. She barely caught a glance of the bitty in the older son’s hands, her eyes focusing elsewhere after they, thankfully, passed and left the store.

“So I’ve got your uniform right here, along with a name badge! You can go slip it on in the break room or bathroom, nobody else is here,” Sammie explained, handing over the shirt and apron.

Sierra nodded, giving a quiet thanks as she went into the break room, quickly switching out the shirts and tying the apron on over top, attaching the name tag. She reluctantly left her bag on the small table, stepping back out and fiddling with the half sleeves, unused to any sleeves without it being a jacket.

“Okay! So, first day here, I won’t have you monitoring animal or bitty visits, but most likely starting next week or the week after you will. I’ll always handle adoption paperwork, or Chad, the other manager will. Are you familiar with bitties at all?”

Sierra internally winced, her lips drawing into a thin line, barely twitching up in a polite yet awkward smile, “No,” She replied honestly. “I know the basics, but that’s about it.”

“That’s fine! They’re all fairly easy to get to know. The only thing I’ll be advising is you avoid the Edgies for a little while, along with the Corals and Mambas. All can be prone to nips, but the last two have venom,” Sammie explained as she led Sierra along the long wall enclosure.

There were about five to ten of each bitty type wandering, or slithering, about, small glass barriers lining the modified countertops along to keep them from falling off or children grabbing them. The walls the counters were up against, Sierra noticed, were lined with tunnels and other climbing towers and hiding spots, and a few small, shadowed figures were visible here and there.

“All bitties must give permission to potential adopters before being picked up or touched! You are permitted to take a bitty away from someone if they are mishandling them or letting a child under eight hold them. Anyone who causes a fuss will be dealt with by me, as we have a strict no-exceptions policy,” Sammie continued to yap away. “Any questions?”

“...no, I think I got it,” Sierra smiled faintly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings: Mentions of emotionally neglectful owner, minor swearing at the end.

“Hey, can you do me a favor?”

Sierra glanced up at the question, Chad standing a few feet away with a large dog food bag on his shoulder.

“...sure.”

“I’m restocking the dog and cat food, could you possibly do the reptile feeding for me? I hate dealing with the dead mice,” Chad explained, waiting another moment as Sierra blinked and stood for a moment in silence.

“...okay,” She hummed softly.

“Great, thanks, the mice should already be thawed in the fridge since I put them in there last night.”

Sierra watched as the taller man walked off, quietly and slowing going to the ‘kitchen’ where they prepped all the meals for the animals. She took the plastic out and began running the warm water, filling up the sink and leaving the bag of mice in it as she went around feeding the lizards crickets.

Per Sammie’s advice, she used the tongs to hand over the mice to the eager snakes, although she wouldn’t have minded getting nipped. Once she was done feeding the snakes, she looked at the fact there were still a good few mice left.

Quietly she stepped back out into the front where Chad had moved on to feeding the puppies, kittens and regular bitties.

“Excuse me?” Sierra cleared her throat. “There’s some mice leftover, I thought each bag was numbered out for the snakes we have?”

“It is. Did you feed the lamias?” Chad asked, shaking off his hand after getting snapped at by an agitated Edgy.

“...no,” Sierra nodded, stepping back into the kitchen and getting the rest of the mice, reluctantly going over to the bitty enclosure where the lamias were awaiting eagerly.

She noticed they seemed content enough to have the mice to eat, but didn’t seem overly excited over the meal, slithering off once more to find something else to do. Yet there was still a mouse inside the bag.

“Am I missing someone?” Sierra asked when Chad walked past, the blonde male stopping and glancing over.

“Oh, yeah, there’s a returned lamia in the backroom that needs to be fed.”

“...Sammie hasn’t told me I can handle returned animals or rescues yet,” Sierra pointed out quietly.

“Well, Sammie also hasn’t been at this shop for your second week, and you’ve seemed to be handling things well enough. He’s an easy feed, just go ahead and do it and I’ll let Sammie know I gave you the go-ahead.”

Sierra slowly nodded, wandering off for the back of the shop, pausing at the almost ominous door that went to the backroom, off-limits to everyone but employees. Even herself until now, as she opened the door quietly, knowing many of the animals kept in the backroom were healing or scared.

Slowly she looked through each stacked cage, seeing some cats and dogs, even a rabbit in one, before finally spotting the coiled up lamia. It was a Corny, thankfully, so non-venomous and very unlikely to nip her.

She unlocked the cage door, pausing when the snake flinched and his head popped into view, two tiny eyelights watching her intensely. Sierra slowly pulled the cage door open as he continued to stare, before he perked up seeing the mouse and slowly uncurled, moving forward hesitantly.

He took the mouse from the tongs, looking between her and the door before eating the mouse easily enough. They continued the staring contest for a moment longer as she closed the cage door, leaving just as quietly.

The Corny stared at where the teen had disappeared, uneasy, surprised and yet curious as to who the new person was. She had been quiet, not a single word, not that he tried to start a conversation, but where was Sammie, or Chad? Weren’t they the only ones to work in the backroom.

He slithered back to his heating pad, curling up and watching the door, awake and pondering over the possibility of being let out up front when Sammie got back for her week at the shop. He would’ve asked if Chad had come in, not that he really expected an answer from the dude. He didn’t like dealing with the reptiles, much less the lamias that could talk back.

But the new girl looked young...like his previous owner had been. Maybe they were the same age? What were the chances they were friends? Not that he’d met any of his former owner’s friends, considering they were disappointed in just possessing him as a pet. He could understand the sentiment, they weren’t the best match, and he wasn’t exactly the most exciting snake, unlike a Papython or Pygmy, or even the shy Kraits.

Maybe the other lamias had interacted with her more? Maybe she was quiet because lots of the rescues reacted badly to sudden sounds and movement? He’d have to ask the others when he was finally out of quarantine, figure out if he should avoid her if she didn’t like them.

Maybe she was nicer than his owner had been?

-

“How has work been going?”

Sierra glanced up from her phone, sitting silently on the couch, not having expected to be addressed.

“What?”

“I said; how has work been going?”

“Oh...it’s been going well,” Sierra shrugged, fiddling with her phone as her mom put on one of her soap operas. “The animals are cute...the bitties too, but they’re also creepy, they talk and act like mini people.”

“Those little monsters are very strange,” Her mom agreed, beginning to make dinner. “You better not bring one of those home out of the blue.”

“You know I wouldn’t do that…” Sierra mumbled, frowning at her phone, clicking through her tabs, uselessly reloading her non-existent notifications in her inboxes to have something to do with her hands.

“Just reminding you,” Her mom hummed. “I might come visit you at work one of these days.”

“You don’t even like animals.”

“No, I like animals!” Her mom scoffed. “I just don’t like pets, not when you and your sister never get your shit done regularly. Why should you have pet responsibilities when you can’t even do your chores?”

Sierra didn’t comment, humming in response before standing, “I’m gonna head upstairs.”

“Alright, I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of dialogue, the sweet Corny learns about Sierra, and vice versa!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No content warnings this chapter!

“Sammie...the quarantine ended Friday, can I go out front now?” The Corny asked quietly after being given his morning nugget.

Sammie blinked, hesitating as the gears cranked in her head before she sighed and gave a sad smile.

“I’m sorry, hon, you were supposed to be put out today...but the Bitty Adoption Association still hasn’t gotten back to me on if it’s alright for you to be adopted again yet.”

“Why do they have to say I can be adopted again?” He asked, curious and frowning, picking at the nugget.

“...well, they have to know that your previous owner hasn’t made you act differently, because they...have to help bitties who don’t act like their species when returned,” She cleared her throat. “It should just be a few more days, I promise.”

He didn’t respond, posture slumped slightly as he nibbled on the nugget, his appetite lost to him.

“...who’s the new girl?” He asked, deciding to try and indulge his curiosity.

“New girl?” Sammie asked curiously, head tilted.

“Yeah, she came in and fed me a mouse Friday…”

“What? She isn’t supposed to have been back here yet-” Sammie frowned, huffing. “And a mouse? Stars, I’m going to punch that asshole! Chad must’ve had her feed all of you guys mice instead of the food you like, I’m sorry.”

The Corny shrugged faintly, munching on his nugget more now, “So...she’s a volunteer?”

“Oh, no, she works here now,” Sammie hummed, working on giving the animals water while he ate. “I was going to introduce her to working in the backroom this week, but obviously Chad disregarded my request to not let her in here sooner.” She sighed.

He finished his nugget and eagerly slithered onto her offered arm, then into her scarf to curl up contently.

“...she reminds me of my owner,” The Corny hummed as Sammie began turning on lights, not yet ready to unlock the door as she did.

“Oh?” Sammie asked, curiously and somewhat concerned. “Did she say something to you?”

“...no, it’s more the fact she didn’t say anything to me...just fed me and left,” He mumbled, fiddling with a loose thread of her scarf.

“I see,” Sammie hummed, greeting and petting a few of the bitties when they came out, beginning to serve them their little breakfast oatmeal bowls. “Does that bother you?”

The Corny shifted, quiet for a long moment, “...a little bit, I’d like to be able to chat with someone more often,” He replied honestly.

“I’m sorry, hon, I’d come back and give you more company if I could,” Sammie pouted, heading to the kitchen again while the bitties ate up.

“I know. It’d just be nice...even to just have something to do other than nap in the cage,” He shrugged, getting comfortable to do just that. 

“I’ll see what I can do for you, hon.”

-

“Sierra, kiddo, could you come here for a quick sec?”

Sierra glanced up at Sammie calling her over, nodding and throwing away her gloves after cleaning out two of the puppy enclosures.

“Yes?” Sierra asked once she got to the desk, Sammie smiling gently.

“Chad let you feel the lamia in the backroom, yeah?”

Sierra nodded slowly, loosely hugging herself, having left her phone in her bag to not get distracted while working.

“It’s alright! I just wanted to talk to you about feeding him next time I’m not here,” Sammie smiled. “And the other lamias. They don’t get fed mice when I’m around, and I’d like them to not eat them when you give them food as well. I do vary their diet with them here and there, but they enjoy other foods.”

Sierra nodded as she listened, “What should I feed them next time?”

“Well! The Cornies love chicken nuggets, and the others...let me just write it down,” Sammie hummed, digging for a notepad and pen before scribbling down the list and handing it over. “Just follow the list whenever I’m not here and I’m sure they’ll love you for it!”

Sierra smiled gently, “I’ll make sure to feed them what they like next time...but...can I ask a question?”

“Sure!”

“The Corny in the back...is he a rescue, or…?”

“Oh, he was returned about a week before you were hired!” Sammie smiled warmly. “We’re just awaiting the Association’s decision on if he can be adopted out from the shop again.”

“...and if he can’t?”

“He’ll likely be sent to one of the official lamia shops, they’re better equipped to handle possible emotional fall out from being returned. He wasn’t abused, from what I’ve been able to tell. But he’s very...quiet for a Corny, and doesn’t pun every other word,” Sammie sighed softly. “I’m a little worried for him, but he’ll get better, either here or at a proper shop.”

Sierra nodded and offered a hesitant smile, “Well, I hope he finds a nice little home to recoup from his previous owner.”

“As do I, kiddo. Sorry for bothering you, can you go make sure the water bowls are all filled?”

“Sure thing.”

-

“Sierra!”

The brunette glanced up as the younger teen landed on the beside her, eyes and grin wide, the look of a maniacal question she had to ask.

“Yes, Brea?”

“You’re working this weekend, right?”

“Yes.”

“Can I come in with you and try to volunteer? I want to see the puppies and bitties!”

“...did mom say you could?”

“Yeah! Otherwise I wouldn’t be asking.”

“What about your activities you usually do Saturday?”

“I do it every Saturday, I can do it when you get off work at eight!” Brea bounced slightly. “Please! Can you ask your manager if I can come in and volunteer?”

“...I’ll ask her, but only because she’s the manager working this weekend, and not Chad.”

“Sweet!”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sierra finally talks to the little Corny, as well as with Sammie about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No content warnings for this chapter!
> 
> Please feel free to leave a comment!! I'd love to hear what you guys think of this so far!

Sierra wasn’t sure whether to be relieved that her sister absolutely couldn’t volunteer on Mondays, or frustrated with it being Chad’s week.

He wasn’t awful, per say, but he certainly did hand off all the laborious work to her. He favored doing paperwork for adoptions or supervising animal visits than he did the cleaning, the only considerate part being that he at least did some of it when he wasn’t doing the other things.

She also didn’t particularly mind she was in charge of feeding the reptiles when it was his week, enjoying watching the snakes and lizards. When she got around to the lamias she was still iffy. Reluctantly she’d give small scratches and pets to the ones who asked. Verbally, mind you. That factor always threw her off, the fact that they could talk, voice their wants and needs.

Despite the look Chad had given her, Sierra had made sure to feed the lamias their preferred food this time. They were a lot more excitable over their meal, and a few had even speckled kisses on her fingers as she gave it to them. Now  _ that  _ really flustered her, the casual affection of the lamias much different from how people acted, but similar all the same.

When she finally got around to the backroom, the Corny was sitting and waiting patiently beside the cage door, watching her come in quietly. Quietly she unlocked the door and opened it, offering him the last nugget from the plate she’d warmed for the Cornies. She had to rewarm it for a few seconds before bringing it to him, but he seemed to hesitate taking it.

“...hi,” His small, quiet voice greeted her as he took the nugget, relaxing into his coils as he nibbled on it.

“...hi,” Sierra greeted back softly, not wanting to bother the other animals, surprised he’d even spoken.

“...Sammie said you’re the new employee?”

“I am,” She smiled gently, shifting on her feet but not shutting the door yet.

“...you remind me of my old owner,” The Corny admitted casually after swallowing a bite of the nugget.

Sierra felt like she’d had ice water poured down her spine, tensing up, her smile tightening slightly, “...oh, were they...nice?”

“...they weren’t mean,” The Corny shrugged. “We weren’t a good match, so they brought me back.”

“...I’m sorry.”

The Corny shrugged again, eyelights focusing on his food now, “It happens.”

Sierra nodded awkwardly, the silence feeling suffocating as she waited for him to finish eating in case he wanted to talk more, but he only slithered back to the heating pad and coiled up, his back towards her.

-

“Hey Sammie?”

“Yeah kiddo?” The red head glanced up from playing on her phone, the two of them sitting in the breakroom for lunch, letting the animals finish up eating before they’d open the doors again.

“...the Corny in the backroom, was he...abused?” Sierra picked at the seran wrap her sandwich had been in, not meeting her eyes yet.

“...not...in the usual sense of the word,” Sammie began hesitantly. “His previous owner and him weren’t a good match, they left him in his cage a lot, didn’t really like handling him or hearing his puns. Why’d you ask?”

“...he spoke the other day, said I reminded him of his previous owner.”

Sammie cleared her throat, “Ah, right, he mentioned that to me as well,” She hummed. “I think he’s more so relating the fact you and his previous owner are both teenagers rather than you act like they did.”

Sierra seemed to lose some tension in her shoulders at that, nodding.

“...why hasn’t he been put back up front yet?”

Sammie hesitated, quiet for a long few moments to the point Sierra looked up at her, curious and concerned but not voicing either.

“...the Association has yet to deem him adoptable again, and I learned recently the only bitty focused shop nearby is at their maximum limit, he likely wouldn’t be adopted for months,” Sammie sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose before fixing her glasses.

“...couldn’t he like...at least be at the desk or something? Brutus gets to wander around a lot,” Sierra asked cautiously.

Sammie smiled faintly, knowing very well the quiet teen was slowly beginning to press her boundaries of comfort just by asking.

“Well...Brutus is a little different. He hasn’t been returned, and isn’t available for adoption, he’s my bitty,” She explained, Sierra nodding and breaking eye contact again, a faint embarrassed flush on her cheeks.

“Sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize, kiddo!” Sammie giggled softly. “If you notice, Brutus doesn’t really hang out with me unless I’m sitting down doing something, since I always handle the paperwork and adoptions and such.”

Sierra nodded, gaze having yet to return back up to Sammie’s face, fiddling with her own phone now, but the screen was black, so she knew the brunette was listening.

“...do you want to see if the Corny would like to maybe hang out with you during the day?” Sammie asked gently, smiling a little wider.

The shorter brunette jumped slightly, eyes wide when they looked up at the red head, the teen’s cheeks darkening.

“O-oh, uh...I don’t want...want to step on any toes-” Sierra barely stuttered out, posture much more locked as she evaded her gaze.

“You wouldn’t!” Sammie smiled widely. “It’d be great for him if he could spend some time out of the backroom, anyways. If you would like to, that is, I know you’re a little weirded out by bitties.”

Sierra seemed to shrink in on herself, cheeks very pink now, eyes not focusing on any one thing, but never meeting Sammie’s.

“...okay,” She squeaked. “...I’ll ask him.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corny gets to be outside the cage!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No content warnings this chapter!!

The Corny perked up from dozing against the cage door when the backroom door opened, his lunch late, which made him wonder if Sierra actually wasn’t at work that week and Chad was being slow. Instead he sat up from leaning against the cage door seeing the brunette, watching her unlocked and open the cage door, two nuggets on the plate rather than one.

“Sorry I’m late,” She apologized softly, handing him a nugget that was blessedly warmer than usual, and tasted different than the normal nuggets.

“S’fine,” The Corny mumbled around the mouthful, relaxed and content despite his gaze being a little distant, and he hesitated taking a second bite. “...has Sammie mentioned anything about me leaving quarantine?”

Sierra glanced away, fidgeting with the paper plate the second nugget was on.

“No, sorry…”

The Corny shrugged, continuing to eat. He had to have been in the backroom for at least a month now, not that he had much to go off of other than Chad and Sammie’s switching shifts between the two shops. When he finished the first nugget the second was offered to him, and he glanced up curiously.

“...they’re from McD’s,” Sierra hummed. “...that’s why I was late.”

The Corny’s eyelights blew wide as he took the second one, understanding now why it tasted so much better than usual, nearly tearing up at the fact she thought to get him the best nuggets ever. He wiped his hands off on the little cloth under his water, a pale blue blush on his cheekbones.

“...thank you for the special nuggets,” He mumbled, turning to slither back to his corner.

“...hey,” Sierra started softly, the blue lamia stopping and glancing over, curious. “...do you want to hang out with me up front today?”

The Corny blinked, hesitating despite the bright shine to his eyelights, “...can I?” He asked hopefully, slowly slithering back over.

“Yeah, Sammie said if you wanted to, you could be up front so long as you were with me.”

The Corny began tearing up again, hesitating a long moment before reaching out to be picked up, nearly whining at just the few moments it took her to set the plate down before gently picking him up. One hand supporting his torso and the other gently picking up the rest of his body as he was brought to her chest.

She didn’t have a scarf like Sammie did, so he hesitantly slithered up a little higher, wrapping himself behind her neck, the rest of his body curled on her chest to not seem like he was going to constrict around her neck. He noticed Sierra did shiver faintly when he settled down finally, but didn’t make a comment as she got the plate and shut his cage.

He felt like he was practically vibrating in excitement, sitting up beside her neck, watching her throw away the plate before she was heading up front.

“...it’s not going to be terribly exciting while I work,” Sierra told him softly, grabbing a few cleaning supplies for a dog enclosure up front.

“That’s fine,” He replied, eager to just be out of the cage. “Anything is better than the silence back there.”

The Corny couldn’t exactly see her expression, but he did feel her tense slightly at the mention before she relaxed again and got to cleaning.

-

The Corny blinked awake when a soft touch began running along the back of his tail, purring instinctively, making a soft, half awake and discontent noise when the touch paused for a moment. It continued after, and he pressed into it, relaxed and sleepy as he slowly tried to wake up properly to see why Sammie was waking him up. Was it meal time?

Oh.

He blinked when he remembered he was wrapped around Sierra’s shoulders, sitting up and disrupting the petting as he stretched. Glancing around he noticed it was dark outside, and soft, sad noise barely escaped before he squashed it.

“Time for the cage?” He mumbled, Sierra sighing. “I gotta feed you first, but yeah, time to go back.”

The Corny nodded, allowing himself to be set on the break room table while she warmed up a nugget for him. He coiled up, not so much a fan of the cool polished wood on his tail. Being pressed up against her warmth was much nicer, and being so close to another soul for so long had his own feeling heavy and content.

He hadn’t felt this nice since...he was up front in the shop, able to sleep with the other bitties, having more interaction than just morning and afternoon with Sammie carrying him for a few minutes.

He perked up slightly and rubbed at his sockets to wake up a little more before taking the nugget, thanking her softly and glancing up as Chad came in. He looked away, ignoring the look the older human had given him for just existing. Although he probably wasn’t impressed Sierra had sat him on the table, either.

The Corny hoped he wouldn’t get her in trouble.

“Isn’t that the Corny from the backroom?”

“...yeah, Sammie said I could carry him around,” Sierra replied quietly, fidgeting and glancing away from Chad.

“Why is it on the table and not back in its cage?” Chad huffed, arms crossed and unimpressed.

“...because he was sleeping and I needed to warm up his food?” Sierra tried to explain meekly.

“...whatever, just make sure it gets put back. The Association is going to come and pick it up next week.”

Sierra blinked, “...does Sammie know?”

“I would hope so. She’s the one who was pestering them twenty-four seven,” Chad rolled his eyes. “I’m going to finish locking up, get that thing back put up before you go so I can lock up properly.”

Sierra was quiet, watching him leave before her attention turned to the Corny, who had watched him leave as well, nugget eaten, although his eyelights had dimmed. Sighing, she gently picked him up, holding the lamia against her chest as she shouldered the backroom door open quietly, going over and gently setting him down on his heating pad.

He was still despondent, coiling up and turning his back to her, not speaking.

“...see you tomorrow.”

She didn’t get a response.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sammie breaks some news to Sierra, and Sierra asks a serious question to her parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm going to give one more chapter and then make a schedule for updating weekly or bi-weekly, haven't decided yet.
> 
> Please read end notes for content warning!

“Sammie!” Sierra exclaimed in surprise with a yelp after getting a gentle pinch to the waist, the red head grinning widely. “I thought you were working at the other shop this week…”

“I actually took a personal day today, after I got the email from the BAA about them coming to pick up our little Corny,” Sammie explained. “Is that the little guy around your neck there?”

Sierra nodded, hand moving up to him instinctively, gently tracing along his back, her smile fading slightly at the fact he still hadn’t reacted to Samme. He’d been napping while around her neck the past two days, even more lethargic than before and not very responsive.

“Yeah...he hasn’t been doing too well since Chad mentioned it the other day.”

Sammie nodded, glancing around quietly before motioning Sierra to follow her. The teen abandoned her gloves, following behind the older woman quickly to the backroom, the room going nearly dark as she shut the door.

“Do you know what happens to bitties who get picked up by the BAA?” Sammie asked gently.

Sierra slowly shook her head, “...no...before I worked here I didn’t have any contact with bitties,” She replied slowly. “Why? What happens? Shouldn’t they just take him to the next closest rescue with an opening?”

Sammie slowly shook her head, “...no, one of the BAA’s regulations of pet shop lamias is if one of the less popular breeds is returned...they can’t be adopted back out from us in case of abnormal behavior. Rescues and proper bitty shops have ways to aid in recovery from being returned or abused, but since we don’t...they won’t adopt him back out.”

“...what does that mean for him?” Sierra asked, concerned at how serious the bubbly red head was being.

Sammie hesitated, glancing towards the Corny, who was now watching her with dim, knowing eyelights.

“...it means they’ll euthanize him.”

-

Sierra fidgeted with her fork at the dinner table, agitated and distracted and overall not having an appetite after what she’d learned that day. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, and the question was on the tip of her tongue, but she wasn’t sure she could voice it.

Her mom was in a sour mood, her sister being the cause of it and moping silently as she also picked at her food, her dad glancing between the three, a little lost in the situation.

“So...how was everyone’s day?” He asked, breaking the tense silence.

Sierra poked at her food a little more, swallowing the nervous lump in her throat, or maybe it was because she was on the edge of crying.

“...the lamia in the backroom at the shop is going to be picked up to be euthanized in a few days.”

Everyone stopped eating, staring at her for a long moment, making her regret speaking up as her mom cleared her throat.

“...that’s sad. Is there a reason why?”

“Are they even allowed to do that?!” Brea exclaimed. “They’re like little people!”

“Brea,” Their mom chastised her.

Sierra nodded slowly, “The BAA has regulations on regular pet shops that aren’t BAA certified to evaluate, rehabilitate and rehome returned lamias. They don’t want to waste time on a less popular species like the one he is, so...they’re just...taking the easy route I guess.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, sweetie.”

Dinner was quiet for a few more minutes before Sierra sighed, “Can I get him?” She asked suddenly, fidgeting with her fork.

“Are you sure you can handle that kind of responsibility, Sierra? You already know what’ll happen if you realize you don’t want to keep it, it takes a lot more work than a dog or cat.”

“I’m sure...I’ve been taking care of him the past few days, letting him hang out with me while I work...and I feed the lamias every other week, because my one manager can’t stand dealing with them.”

It was quiet again, Sierra sighing and deciding she couldn’t eat, taking her plate to put the food away.

“I’ll think about it,” Her mom hummed, heading to her bedroom after putting the dishes in the sink.

Sierra didn’t want to know how long it was going to take her to make a damn decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: mentions of euthanization


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life isn't always perfect, unfortunately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for this chapter.
> 
> Updates from now on are going to be Mondays/Fridays! Bi-weekly instead of whenever I get a chapter written up, sorry!!

Sierra tried not to race down the sidewalk after parking a few blocks over, the only area for her to get a space on Fridays. It was always so crowded, people wanting to get shopping done to relax for the weekend, or explore the sales racks.

But not for her, not today, especially. The little Corny at the shop was going to be _hers_ , her mom had finally said yes! Of course, she had to pester her for the past few days to keep thinking about it, nearly leading her to screaming about how she couldn’t think if Sierra was going to bother her every five seconds. That isn’t what bothered her as much as the fact her mom waited until the last minute to give her decision, but now she knew for a fact she was getting the little guy!

The BAA wasn’t supposed to come in until the next day, so she had plenty of time to fill out the papers with Sammie under her guidance on what info she needed to put down.

“Chad?” Sierra called as she unlocked the door, slipping in and locking it behind her, heading to the break room.

She dropped her bag on the table, pulling off her jacket and going to hang it on one of the wall hooks, straightening out her uniform shirt.

“Sierra.”

Sierra jumped hearing the soft voice of Sammie, not expecting her to come in and visit until lunch. She paused, seeing the red head’s cheeks were flushed more than usual, and her eyes were puffy.

“...are you okay?” She asked, walking over, concerned about her friend, one of the few she had.

“You need to sit down before we talk,” Sammie nodded to the lounge couch in the breakroom, leading her over and sitting down facing her.

“What happened?” Sierra asked again, hands twitching to hold Sammie’s to reassure her in whatever little way possible, but her own trouble with being touched kept her from doing so.

“...the BAA came early,” Sammie told her softly, Sierra’s blood running cold.

“...what, no, they’re not supposed to come early-”

“I’m sorry, but they have authority and I couldn’t cause a scene,” Sammie apologized gently, hands softly holding Sierra’s, squeezing gently.

“My mom just told me this morning I could adopt him-” Sierra went quiet, tearing up and choking up on the forming lump in her throat, ripping her hands away to hug herself.

“I’m sorry, kiddo,” Sammie apologized again, not moving to try and comfort her, already feeling bad for trying to hold her hands. “You have the weekend off, including today, if you’d like. I’m running this shop for the next few weeks.”

Sierra slowly nodded, a few tears slipping as she stood, quickly grabbing her bag and jacket back up and leaving quickly.

-

Sierra sat and stared at the wall of her room, having gotten home and thanked whatever stupid deity existed that her one mercy was her parents and sister weren’t home. She also was thankful she didn’t have to go to school anytime soon with the summer only recently kicking into gear. Her only concern would be college come September, and that was still almost four months away.

For now she silently cried and mourned the fact she couldn’t contact the BAA about the Corny. She’d tried finding contact information, but it was only available to shops, or maybe animal health organizations, but whoever had it wasn’t sharing it online. How she’d even ask about a specific Corny with no official name, she didn’t know. Her chest ached knowing the sweet little lamia wasn’t going to get a happy home, his only experience being the shop and whatever shitty teen had adopted him and returned him.

Sierra barely glanced towards the door to her room when it cracked open, her mom stepping in with a soft sigh, closing the door behind her and walking over. She sat down next to the teen, rubbing her back gently.

“Sammie called me,” She explained gently. “I’m sorry the Corny was taken before you got to work.”

Sierra didn’t reply, hot anger burning in her chest now, not wanting to be touched, not wanting to be talked to, not wanting to hear a fucking apology when it was her mom’s fault for taking so long to give her an answer.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No. I want to be left alone,” Sierra mumbled sharply, the touch leaving her back and her mom leaving the room, leaving her to wallow in anger and sadness for the Corny.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a rough month for Sierra...but maybe it's looking up?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are loved and much appreciated!!
> 
> Also, do longer chapters with 2k+ words like this seem more appealing, or were my shorter chapters of 800-1.5k words alright? I'm trying to make things a little longer, but if it feels like this is just fluffed up with nonsense, let me know ^^'
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!!

Sierra almost didn’t go into work that Monday, three days after the Corny was picked up by the BAA. Everything felt like too much, even after just a week of growing attached to the little guy. Her mom had gotten onto her for moping so much when she tried talking about it, so she didn’t bother again, sucking it up and going in.

Sammie even had her working with the bitties and lamias to try and bring up her mood, letting her feed and interact with them. She’d gotten much more comfortable with the lamias after the Corny, but she didn’t interact with the other Cornies much. They at least respected her space, getting their nuggets and slithering off to eat each meal. The Papythons and Pygmies stopped trying to bring it up after the first week, when they realized their caring attempts were falling short.

That was less their fault and more the fact Sierra wouldn’t accept the cheer-up attempts. She wasn’t being mean or ignoring them at all, still very nice and giving them the wanted affection they craved from people, talking with them here and there. Or, moreso listening to them chat away to her, the quiet teen even quieter nowadays.

Sammie didn’t make her work with the families adopting, or even monitor the pet visits. She stayed listening to music, cleaning the shop and feeding when it came time.

Two more weeks came and went, nearly a month after the incident, and suddenly she was having yet another sit down with her parents. Sierra didn’t know why they couldn’t just leave it alone, she was handling it on her own time, she didn’t need them trying to help. But help they tried.

“Sweetheart, it’s been three weeks…”

“Okay, and?” Sierra shot back, tired of their almost daily attempts to make her get over it. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not, you’re going to work, coming home, going to sleep. Sammie says you haven’t been eating lunch, barely talk to her, barely talk to the lamias...you don’t even try to play with the cats or dogs...you love animals.”

“Sammie’s been taking care of the dogs and cats,” Sierra deflected.

Her dad sighed, rubbing at his temple, “Leigha...if she doesn’t want to talk about it…”

“No! I’m sick and tired of her acting like a zombie, it’s unhealthy, her friends are concerned.”

“So am I, but she will get over it on her own time, she obviously is uncomfortable you bring it up so often.”

“Fine! Since I’m such a bitch, you can deal with it,” Her mom snapped, standing and storming off to the bedroom.

Her dad sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose, rubbing his hand down his face.

“I’ll handle her later…” He indirectly apologized, Sierra nodding, staring at the table, numb and tired. “We have a question for you, though.”

Sierra glanced towards him now, “...what is it?”

“Your mom and I were thinking about getting Brea a lamia,” He started, leaning on the table. “Thoughts?”

Sierra stared at him for a moment, a small spark of anger in her chest, that they’d consider getting her a lamia, after years of ‘no pets allowed’ so soon after she’d lost the chance to adopt the Corny, who’d been sent off to be  _ euthanized  _ like a sick animal-

“It’d be better than getting her a dog or cat, or regular animal,” Sierra replied, honest, but her voice weak, numb, quiet. “A bitty or lamia could tell her when they need something, remind her.”

He nodded, “What kind do you think would be good for her?”

Sierra went back to staring at the table, thinking for a long few minutes, fiddling with her fingers.

“...a Pygmy, maybe a Papython, something with more energy, like her...friendly,” Sierra mumbled softly.

Her dad nodded, watching her quietly, letting her have the moment to just sit, quiet and awkward. She tried not to think about the Corny, about the fact that lamias could in fact be euthanized, even as a sentient creature.

“...you sure you’re doing alright, Sierra?”

She glanced towards him, realizing her cheeks were wet, wiping away the tears, “...I’m fine,” She replied simply, standing up and heading to her room.

It was another week before she was told her parents had gone out and gotten Brea a little Pygmy for her birthday, from the official bitty shop in the city. Thankfully, Sierra thought, not sure how she would have felt, having a lamia in the house that knew what she’d lost.

When she got home, she watched as her mom waved her over to sit on the couch, a live carrier sitting on the ottoman. Sierra obediently sat, quiet, watching and listening as the garage opened, the door opening and shutting, and then the garage shutting once more. Brea was taking care of her skating bag, leaving the board by the door and stepping into the kitchen, looking over curiously.

“You’re here from work early,” Brea commented chirpily towards Sierra. “What’s up?”

“It’s your birthday,” Sierra pointed out gently, smiling weakly.

“Yeah, and?” Brea replied playfully. “Like that’s been important to you before?”

Sierra gave a small huff of a laugh, “Ouch,” She replied sarcastically. “Right in the heart.”

“As if you have anything left of one.”

“That’s enough,” Their mom cut them off, dad joining her and Sierra on the couch. “Come, come, sit down, we have your gift and it shouldn’t wait any longer!”

Brea’s brows raised, heading over curiously before her expression lit up seeing the live carrier on the ottoman.

“Oh! What is it?” Brea squealed, sitting down quickly on the edge of the cushion, gently picking it up and setting it on her lap.

“Open it up and find out,” Their dad hummed, mom recording her reaction.

Brea gently opened the top of the box, gasping and ‘aw’ing, “Hello there!”

“Hello!” The lamia parroted, Brea gently picking him up out of the box, Sierra watched the small blue snake brought out, wrapped around her wrist comfortably, torso in her hand. “Are you my owner?”

“I am!” Brea giggled. “Oh my God, you’re so cute!”

Sierra smiled just barely, watching the two chat back and forth for a little while, her mom and dad seemingly amused watching them.

“I’m gonna head upstairs,” Sierra told them quietly, standing.

“Oh! Wait, we got you something today while we were out!” Her mom interrupted, Sierra frowning when she motioned her to sit back down, which she did silently.

Before she knew it, another live carrier was produced from under a blanket on the ground, and plopped into her lap, her mom watching her with a wide smile.

Sierra stared at the box for a long moment, and then towards her mom and dad, feeling anxious and unsure on what exactly they were doing. She hadn’t been told of this, and there was no way they had her little Corny-

“So...we know it’s been a rough month,” Her mom started. “And...this little thing can’t bring back the one you lost, but hopefully it helps?”

It wouldn’t. Nothing would, what the fuck. Her mom had gotten her a lamia that wasn’t the one she wanted, but she couldn’t say that because fuck, her sister and her little Pygmy were watching, and whatever type was in the carrier would be traumatised if she rejected him.

Sierra felt shaky and light headed, but turned her attention to the carrier in her lap, fighting with the admittedly easy flaps, her hands were shaking so hard, but managing to pop it open.

Two red blips of light in sockets stared up at her, a frowned on the striped snake’s face.

“Surprise! We got you...a Coral is it?” Her mom asked towards Brea.

“Yeah!” Brea grinned widely, proud she knew just the type of the lamia.

“...you knew?” Sierra asked towards her younger sister, still in shock, the shaking getting worse, chest feeling tight.

“Well...yeah, they asked me if I thought it’d be a good idea, and if it’d be okay they gave him to you today,” Brea replied, as if nothing was wrong. “Why? Do you not like Corals?”

“We can take him back-”

“No, it’s fine,” Sierra barely got out, interrupting her mom and swallowing the forming lump in her throat, ignoring the quiet lamia, watching and listening to everything going down. “I- I think I’m going to head upstairs.”

She quickly stood, taking the carrier with her before they could say anything, disappearing up the stairs and into her room, leaning heavily against the door. Sierra fought to catch her breath, despite never having any true reason to lose it in the first place, eyes stinging and a few tears slipping.

~~“...what’s your problem?” The Coral huffed from the box, startling Sierra and making her look down finally. “If ya don’t fuckin’ want me than just say so.”

Sierra cleared her throat, shakily walking over to her bed, not sure how to respond to the small snake. On one hand she didn’t exactly want him, not at all, really, considering the lamia had been sprung on her by her family. Yet, on the other hand, if she admitted it to the small Coral, it could deepen the harsh reality for him that he was with someone that didn’t want him.

She knew lamias would run away if not properly cared for, she wouldn’t be like that, not at all, but if she couldn’t offer the type of emotional connection and care they needed-

“Hey, dumbass!” The Coral snapped, body lashing against the sides of the box and startling her. “Stop staring and let me out of the damn box already! Yeesh, are you empty in that big head of yours or somethin?”

A faint flush built on Sierra’s cheeks, hesitating with the box in her hands, “...I’m going to tilt the box so you can get out,” She warned him quietly, before gently tilting the box, watching as the Coral lunged out onto the blankets.

Sierra kneeled down as she closed the carrier, slipping it under her bed before sitting there, fidgeting as she watched the small lamia beginning to roam her bed. He was having some difficulty, considering her faux fur blanket didn’t offer much traction for him, but he managed to climb onto her body pillow. He seemed content enough to stay there as well, it seemed considering her coiled up and returned right back to staring at her sharply.

“Are ya going to name me or what?” The Coral snapped suddenly, Sierra wincing at just how loud the little thing could be. “Considering your shit parents didn’t put one down on my papers.”

Finally she broke eye contact, cheeks burning. What could she name him? She’d never gotten this far into adopting a lamia, as much as she had wanted to. None of her friends talked about their lamias past flaunting pictures or how well behaved and pretty they were, how was this supposed to go?

“Stars, if you’re not going to bother naming me then just return me to the damn shop already!”

Shit, did her Corny ever get a name? Sammie never mentioned it, and Sierra never saw if he had adoption papers still around to show it. All the rescue and rehabilitation stories online usually gave a name to the bitty, and then a new name when adopted by someone new. She didn’t even want to think how she’d feel to be called by her species or race as a name, and she didn’t want to make the Coral feel the same way, how her Corny must’ve felt to not be given his own identity as an individual.

“...Staghorn?” She offered meekly, picking at her nails now, despite having been doing well on not destroying them.

“...are you serious?” The Coral snorted. “Do I look like a chunk of ocean flesh? What’re you gonna do, stick me in a tank and watch me grow? Oh wait, sometimes you humans  _ do  _ do that to us.”

Ouch, it was true, but that hurt her heart to think about.

“...Mars?” She offered next, trying to think of anything that could apply to him other than literal corals.

“The stupid human candy bar or the planet?” The Coral asked after a beat of silence, arms crossed but seemingly more observing than scrutinizing her now, thank the stars.

“...the planet,” Sierra hummed, trying to relax now that he wasn’t yelling or snapping.

“Whatever, if that’s the shit ya wanna name me after, fine,” He puffed.

Well, it was better than more snapping and agitation in Sierra’s opinion. It still wasn’t the best reaction she could be getting from a Coral, especially one that was supposed to be hers now, but it was better. Even if she hadn’t planned on getting any type of lamia anytime soon, she refused to be like Corny’s owner. The girl had returned him just weeks after getting him, those few weeks enough to make him quiet and not want to tell jokes.

“So, am I getting an enclosure or somethin?” Mars asked now, lounging out on the body pillow, watching her watch him.

“...do you want one?” She asked unsurely, not exactly sure if the actual bitty shops advertised it as much as the pet shops did.

“Nah, a heating pad, or a whole human heating blanket would be fine by me,” He hummed. “And this pillow is mine now.”

Okay…? Sierra wasn’t sure if claiming things as theirs was normal for a Coral, she’d seen them share things at the shop, but also have their own small little hoards. The body pillow was much larger than Mars, but would it be safe to deny him that? She desperately needed a more in-depth conversation with Sammie about lamia types, considering she wouldn’t consider herself an expert by any means.

Sierra knew the basics of each type, the personalities, social needs, food preferences...but it was all informational, what are you supposed to do with a lamia after adopting one? Mars was going to be a challenge, she knew that much, it was partially why she’d loved her Corny, how easy going his type was.

“Are you dumb or something?” Mars asked, once more startling Sierra. “You’re staring at a wall.”

She really needed to stop thinking about her Corny, comparing Mars to him.

“...no?”

Mars stared at her for a long moment before rolling his eyelights, “Whatever,” He puffed, rolling over on the pillow. “I’m taking a nap, don’t wake me up unless you get food fer me.”

“Okay,” Sierra replied softly, watching him for a minute, contemplating what she needed to get for him. She really did need to talk to Sammie, or go to the shop he came from, ask some questions-

“And stop staring!”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mars is a problem child and learns a little about his new owner...before being even more of a problem child cause he doesn't like her. Nope, not at all, he _totally_ couldn't care less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings: reference to Corny and euthanization of bitties, swearing
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and critiques on what I could do better in this story!!
> 
> Also! Please go back and reread the end of chapter 9, I rewrote the bedroom scene between Mars and Sierra to hopefully feel less wishy-washy on her feelings about the Coral, it starts with the ~~ at the beginning of the paragraph. I will also be updating the tags to hopefully provide better warning of content without spoiling later chapters.
> 
> I hope you enjoy the newest update~!

Mars huffed when he was woken up by something hitting the ground, buried under a blanket he’d demanded to have to himself, comfortably tucked into a corner of the bed with the body pillow and blanket. Again, he heard noise, so loud in the dark. Finally he poked his head out with a glare, squinting at the dim lighting of the bedroom, coming from the bathroom.

His owner wasn’t in the bed, but that didn’t mean she was in the bathroom either, and that made him glare harder at the doorway. Sierra finally stepped out, seemingly trying to be as quiet as possible, unaware he was watching her. He noticed she had some sort of uniform on, but didn’t know enough words to understand the words of it on her shirt.

He watched her head for the bedroom door quietly after turning off the light, his eyes adjusting quickly as she opened it.

“Hey!” He snapped, realizing she was about to leave him alone in the room, for who knows how long. “Where the fuck are you going?” He hissed, slithering out of his warmth temporary nest with some struggle.

Sierra yelped before quickly covering her mouth, having spun on her heel to face him, one finger on her lips, her free hand on her chest.

“People are sleeping!” She whisper-yelled, but came back over quickly.

“So fucking what? You’re just gonna leave me here?” Mars grumbled, but lowered his voice.

“...”

Mars flicked his tongue, “You’re a dumbass, pick me up!” He huffed, holding his hands up.

He’d be damned to a long day of silence and no food if he was left behind while she went to work, because he knew for certain her parents weren’t going to deal with him. They’d said as such while adopting him, refusing to pick him up, making the employee put him in a carrier for them, along with a cheerful Pygmy in another carrier. He was thankful at least they had two different owners, even if they were in the same house.

“You’re staring again!” Mars hissed when all he received was a blank stare, although her fidgeting gave away her hesitance.

“Sorry,” Sierra apologized quietly, offering her hand for Mars to wrap around, carrying the Coral with her.

“What’s for breakfast?” He huffed, pressing into her hand. She was warm, that was it, it wasn’t that he wanted to be pet or anything.

Mars was getting really annoyed with how little she responded to what he was saying. He knew she didn’t want him, but stars, she could at least appease his need for conversation.

“Hello? Anyone home?” He huffed, nipping the point between her thumb and pointer, making her jump slightly. “Don’t be a wuss, ya weren’t paying attention!”

“Sorry,” She mumbled. “I can make you some eggs and sausage really quick?”

“Just sausage,” Mars replied simply, relaxing slightly. At least she wasn’t going to starve him to not deal with him, that was one worry off his checklist.

When her hand lowered towards the counter, he immediately recoiled, “I’m not gonna sit on that! It’s going to be freezing!” He snapped.

Sierra seemed to hesitate for a moment before bringing her hand back, “Well you can’t stay there, I need it to cook…”

“Let me sit around your neck or something!” Mars huffed sharply, flicking his tongue at her again.

“Okay, okay,” She replied meekly, holding him up to her chest, giving him a minute to let go and transfer to being around her neck.

Mars could easily tell with the close contact that she was uncomfortable with it, but wasn’t going to tell him that. Whatever made her so tense, but he didn’t care about that at the moment, focusing on watching her cook the egg and two sausage links in the pan. The bitty shop gave treats here and there, but most often fed them basic raw meat, and he was dying to try stuff that adopted lamias and bitties had talked about eating.

He most certainly did  _ not _ blush when his stomach growled, hissing when Sierra’s shoulders seemed to shake a little with silent laughter. Mars reluctantly left it alone when she plated his food and brought it to the table, letting him make his way off her arm onto the table cloth. He didn’t care if she was watching at this point, eagerly shoving the bits of egg into his mouth with his hands, humming even more delightedly at the sausage.

“This is breakfast every morning now,” Mars demanded through a mouthful of sausage, glaring up at her as he took another bite.

“...okay,” Sierra hummed, distracted by getting a satchel together in a smaller room connected to the dining room.

Mars was finished fairly quickly, covered in greasiness and contently bloated by his bout of overeating. No doubt he’d demand just the sausages from now on as he groaned unhappily when Sierra came back over, not wanting to move from lying on the table now. He nipped her sharply when he was picked up without asking, making her flinch but not drop him, surprisingly enough.

He happily let her clean off his face and torso with a warm washcloth, not having to move a single inch to clean himself, very ready to take a nap now.

“Why the fuck ya gotta get up so early?” Mars grumbled when he returned to around her shoulders, coiled close to her warmth and easily beginning to doze.

“I work opening to closing,” She explained softly. “Unfortunately, the shop opens early.”

“Fuckin sucks,” He huffed.

-

“Let me down!”

“I can’t,” Sierra stressed for the millionth time, struggling with a squirming lamia and multiple red bites on her hands. “We’ll get in trouble.”

“So fuckin what!” Mars spat, biting her hand again, but she still wouldn’t drop him, which was starting to be unfortunate in his opinion.

“Mars, please-”

“What’s going on?” Sammie asked, chipper as always but startling Sierra enough for Mars to finally make his escape.

With a well placed lash of his tail, he managed to get a hit in on her face, right in the eye. Finally she let him go to cover her eye, and he grunted when he landed on the tile, but quickly took off under the shelves, laughing victoriously as he did.

“Whoa! I’m sorry kiddo, didn’t mean to make you drop him-”

“It’s fine,” Sierra barely got out, rubbing at her eye. “I’m sorry, he’s loose in the shop now, and-”

“Relax! Brutus gets away from me all the time, it isn’t a problem at the moment since nobody is in the store, why don’t you go check your eye and I’ll see about getting him to hangout with the Corals?”

Sierra nodded silently, head ducked as she kept her eye covered, heading for the break room.

Mars was...not having as much fun as he had hoped after escaping. The tile wasn’t fun to move around on, chilly and the dust and dirt from under the shelves sticking to his scales, making them itchy. That didn’t stop him from ducking around, looking at the stuff he couldn’t reach but caught his eye, even waving briefly at a few bitties who noticed him on the ground.

It wasn’t long until he was indeed bored, huffing and starting to try and climb a shelf for a better vantage point.

“There you are, you little bugger,” Sammie hummed, grabbing him up gently, Mars kindly sinking his fangs into her hand to show his unhappiness.

Sammie didn’t even flinch as she carried him while he squirmed in her hold, “It wasn’t very nice of you to hit Sierra in the eye when she was following the rules,” She hummed.

“So? What’re you gonna do about it?” He snapped, despite feeling uneasy at the possibility of any type of punishment. For himself, that is, he didn’t care if Sierra got in trouble, why should he?

“Put you somewhere you can spend the day with some company,” Sammie hummed, and he was plopped down behind one of the glass walls surrounding the lamia enclosure.

“I’m not adoptable!” He snapped, trying to lunge up and over the glass wall, but it being just a little too high for him to grab with his finger tips.

“I know, and nobody can adopt you even if they tried,” Sammie hummed, leaning on the wall and watching him. “But you can’t be going around on the floor, so if you want to do something other than nap, you can hang out with the other lamias.”

Mars flicked his tongue at her before flipping her off, Sammie undeterred as she simply stood back up and walked off, leaving him fuming and feeling his ego take a casualty. Why did he have to be on the smaller end of Corals?

“Hey bud.”

Mars flinched before spinning around and hissing at the Edgy standing behind him, “What the fuck do you want?”

“How about less swearing, for one, and two, if you do, make it a little less loud,” He grinned warningly. “Kids are often brought in here and we don’t need you causing us trouble.”

Mars flicked his tongue slightly, arms crossed as he eyed the bitty in front of him. He was obviously one of the bigger Edgies, compared to the ones he’d dealt with anyways. The bigger bitty was watching him back just as scrutinizingly, grin tight and just waiting for him to give him a chance to likely pummel him. The challenge wasn’t worth the risk when he was stuck in an enclosure, and his non-snake counterpart could teleport.

He deflated slightly, giving up the staring contest as he glanced away, huffing but not saying anything else.

“Name’s Brutus,” The Edgy commented now, relaxedly walking over and plopping down next to him to watch the store through the glass. “You Sierra’s?”

Mars side eyed the large Edgy, coiling up to lean and watch as some people came into the store.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Jus interestin,” Brutus shrugged, pocketing his hands in his thick red jacket, Mars wished he had one to hide in, but he was not so lucky as to have gotten clothes when adopted.

“Why?” Mars asked. “Is it because she doesn’t like lamias or somethin?”

“Nah,” Brutus hummed. “Just surprised, she didn’t seem ta be in the mood ta go out and get a pet of any kind suddenly.”

“Why does that not surprise me…” Mars mumbled. “Her parents mentioned they’d return me if she didn’t like me, and she sure as hell doesn’t seem to.”

“Nah, I doubt she’d let ya get returned.”

“It’d be preferable than being a bad match.”

Brutus winced sympathetically, “Fair enough.”

It was a long few minutes of silence between them, Mars eyeing Sierra as he spotted her cleaning out one of the puppy cages.

“Did she have a bitty before me?” Mars asked, glancing over at Brutus.

“...eh, kinda sorta,” Brutus replied vaguely, the Edgy not so sure it was his place to explain.

“How does someone ‘kinda sorta’ own a bitty?” Mars frowned, tongue flicking at him.

“Not exactly my place ta say-”

“Nobody else is going to explain it to me, she barely replies to my smaller questions,” The small lamia grumbled, glaring towards her through the glass now.

Brutus grunted, a noncommittal response, leaving Mars even more agitated and stewing silently.

“She almost adopted a Corny, ‘bout two months back,” The Edgy finally replied, Mars’ eyelights snapping towards him.

“What happened?”

“BAA came and got ‘im a day early, right before she came bargin’ in that she had permission ta get ‘im,” Brutus hummed, looking towards him now. “He was a returned lamia, and since we’re a pet shop with bitties…”

“...mixed shops don’t have rehabilitation approval,” Mars mumbled, glancing back out the glass.

“I’m guessing ya came from the official bitty shop on the other side of the city? I ain’ ever seen ya in the other mixed shop Sammie works at.”

“Yeah. Was there for about six months.”

“You got lucky then,” Brutus snorted. “Those shops aren’t monitored by the BAA, cause they got actual professionals and specialists available. Shops like these gotta have each batch of bitties out after three. The BAA assumes they won’t get adopted at that point, that they ‘have defects and/or emotional problems from lack of connection’.”

Mars glared out the glass wall for a long few minutes, watching Sierra when he got glimpses of her in between the aisles.

“...what actually happens when the BAA picks up bitties that don’t make it to professional shops?”

“They get euthanized, don’t ask me how, I don’t know...nobody really knows,” Brutus shrugged. “A lot of people don’t agree with it, but nothing’s brought them down yet.”

-

“Brea?” Sierra called once she got inside, Mars lounging around her shoulders quietly.

He hadn’t bothered fighting when it was time to go home, not that he cooperated either in being picked up. Mars made her work to get him out of the tank, going limp noodle, quite literally, until she had to drape him around her shoulders herself. Only then did he bother moving to wrap around more comfortably for himself.

“Yeah?” The younger girl asked, peeking up from where she was sitting on the ground in front of the couch with her Pygmy.

“Can you watch Mars for a minute while I go get a shower?”

“Sure-”

“Fuck no!” Mars snapped, Sierra sighing heavily, rubbing at her temple.

“Mars, please-”

“No! Fuck you! I want to go to bed!”

Sierra didn’t argue further, simply mumbling a “nevermind” to her sister before heading upstairs. She closed the door behind her, bringing him to the bed where he slipped from her shoulders and dove straight for his unbothered nest. Mars peeked out while she was pulling pajamas out of her dresser, flicking his tongue and glaring.

“You almost got a Corny?” He asked, despite knowing already, enjoying seeing her freeze, knowing she had to be squirming internally in discomfort over the topic. “Yeah, you never answer my shit so I had to ask other people!”

Still no response, but her tenseness as she finished grabbing undergarments was telling enough to the Coral.

“I’m just a poor replacement though, huh? You wanted to baby a broken snake,” Mars continued to jeer, watching her head for the bathroom. “Why don’t you just return me, huh?! Unlike those weak Cornies, I won’t mind knowing you don’t like me!”

He winced just barely when the bathroom door slammed shut, hissing to himself as he coiled into his nest, bitter and upset. Not because he was jealous a nonexistent lamia was getting more attention from his owner than he was or anything…

...he didn’t even want her attention or love, anyways. Not one bit.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mars is a pissy baby, Sierra is giving up, and Sammie is up to something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Mentions of Corny again, swearing
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!! Things aren't looking up quite yet, but they will be soon, I promise!!
> 
> Please let me know what you guys think! I love all the comments c:

Mars was still agitated; he could barely get five words out of Sierra as the days passed by. The only tolerable and, dare he say it, enjoyable conversation he got was while he was at the shop during her work. Brutus wasn’t terribly chatty, and he offered more of a companionable silence at most times, which was more than Sierra’s closed off silence, at least.

The other Corals he could suffer through easily enough, considering it wasn’t long ago he was stewing away in an enclosure with other ones at a proper bitty shop. It was Biibii, the loud, hyper Pygmy at home that really grinded at his nerves. Dealing with Sierra’s distant company was better than dealing with that little blue shit, and he tried to spend as little time as possible with either of them.

Mars’ mood went from uncaring to shitty about five seconds after Sierra stepped into the shop.  _ Chad _ was the manager in that week, apparently, and from what he heard from the other lamias, he didn’t have any bitties or lamias. Supposedly he hated lamias and reptiles in general, not that it mattered much to him when he didn’t have to deal with him. One problem with him being the manager that week was the fact that Sammie wasn’t working, so Brutus wasn’t around to rant to.

He recoiled when Sierra stopped by the Coral enclosure to drop him off, hissing and biting her fingers when she tried to coax him off of her shoulders.

“I don’t want to go in there today!” He spat, tightening his hold around her neck and feeling her tense.

“Okay, okay…” She mumbled softly, leaving him be and in turn he loosened his constricting hold on her.

The day felt slow and awful from there on, for once Mars felt like he couldn’t sleep, and it made him pissy. He just wanted to nap through the day, but no, the one time he had to suffer through staying against Sierra he couldn’t. It was the perfect place to take one, too, even if he despised contact with her, despised the mild smell of whatever perfume or body spray she used.

No, he totally did not coil in a way to have his face tucked close to the juncture of her neck and shoulders to smell it better, that would be stupid, cause he hated it. It was just more comfortable, that’s it.

That was the horrible part, the fact he could easily sleep against her if he could just get to the sleeping part, but for this one cursed day, he couldn’t sleep. Not with her scent close, even with the comfortable warmth she gave off, or being close to her soul. Mars knew even if she did hate having him, her soul didn’t exude it regularly, which was a small blessing in disguise considering his own lavished in the energy it gave him. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t sleep.

Puffing, he sat up slightly.

“So do you actually like lamias or are you just a weepy person who enjoys broken things?” Mars asked, smirking when Sierra paused before continuing her cleaning.

“Is that why you don’t like me, I’m not your broken little Corny? I’m not a returned little rescue that needs a happy home?”

No response, and it was really grating on his nerves, how quickly she started to ignore him, like she was used to doing it.

“I guess sitting for six months in a bitty shop doesn’t equate to being returned after a week of being owned, huh?”

Sierra paused at that, longer this time, but still she didn’t address it, finished putting new bedding into the cage and shut it. Mars felt she could at least indulge him on some proper answers, he just wanted to know why she bothered keeping him if she didn’t like him!

“Maybe you just aren’t happy getting a Coral instead, huh? Would’ve preferred another Corny to replace the other one?” Mars continued sneering, barely getting even a hum of acknowledgement most of the time.

He continued like that for at least two hours, snapping and questioning and insulting her left and right. Slowly he grew more angry, barely able to even feel a difference in the feeling of her soul. She was indifferent, unbothered, why wasn’t he making her feel bad?! Did she not even feel bad that he was upset?

Finally the snapping died down when she went to eat lunch, grumpy and not wanting to eat whatever stupid meat she’d brought with her own lunch for him. Unhappily he’d moved to the table to not have anything drop on him from whatever she had to eat that day, coiled up with his back turned to her until he heard a crumpling of plastic.

Mars’ head snapped around to watch her, seeing Sierra popping open a small bag of chips, pouring a good amount onto a napkin where his little tupperware cup was filled with some raw ground beef. He eyed her quietly as she set the bag aside and began eating her lunch and typing away at something on her phone, slowly and cautiously moving to the napkin, starting on scarfing down the chips eagerly.

So what if she gave him his favorite snack? Mars thought she should’ve given him some long ago if she wanted to even be considered decent. It was too late now, he didn’t like her and she didn’t like him, she just didn’t want him to not eat lunch, that was it. What good was a starving lamia?

Mars was decently content after the chips and deciding to eat the ground beef, cleaning his hands on the napkin as Sierra cleaned up their spot, helping him return to around her neck as she got back to work.

“Why are you so quiet?” Mars asked finally, after another fifteen minutes of trying to get her to react to his snide comments and swearing, purposefully when he saw a kid in the shop.

“Why are you such a chatty Coral?” Sierra finally remarked in return, and Mars winced.

That didn’t bother him! No, not one bit! Finally he’d gotten her to snap back, but now that’d he’d gotten a response...he didn’t like it as much as he thought he would, being able to get her to react. He flicked his tongue, coiling around her neck and going quiet now.

Fine, if she didn’t want a chatty snake, he wouldn’t be a chatty snake, he could be quiet, it was preferable, even, he could nap the day away, if he could sleep. He even felt a little accomplished when her soul gave a small pulse of remorse for her own comment.

Mars didn’t feel bad for his own comments, she deserved them, he didn’t like her and he would rather be returned at this point.

So why did her reply have his soul hurting so bad?

-

Sierra ran a hand through her hair as she sighed loudly, giving Mars a piece of chocolate from the bar she had, considering he’d loudly stated he deserved some. She didn’t want him getting sick from it, knowing he could at least eat it, but didn’t know how much would end up making him sick.

Once lunch was over she got back to work, restocking the bitty aisle of clothes and other items people needed. Her attention lingered on small things here and there, amused with some of the cuter outfits meant for Baby Blues, Papythons and Softies, along with their lamia counterparts.

She looked at a few Sansy and Corny shirts as well, attention pausing on the little puns a lot of them had, the cute little blue hoodies and jackets they had. Sierra was oblivious to Mars watching her looking at the clothes and putting them away until he hissed at a red little sweater.

“Give!” Mars snapped, and Sierra had a moment of pause.

Shit. She’d never gotten him clothes, did she? Her parents wouldn’t have bothered, and she assumed the regular bitty shops were like the mixed shops where clothes were only given to the regular bitties. Sierra slowly offered the sweater to him and had it ripped from her fingers, the tiny hanger thrown away as she felt Mars squirming to get the sweater on, unable to see him.

She smiled just barely, thinking about how he probably looked trying to pull his skull through, beginning once more to put away the clothes. It was another few minutes before Mars puffed and demanded another item, this time a little fluffy gold and black jacket. How could she deny him it after two weeks of no clothes? So she gave him that as well, and finished emptying the box of bitty clothes.

Mars had been demanding a lot as of late, mainly food or to be taken somewhere in the house or shop, and she’d only turned down one or two things she just couldn’t let him do or have. Such as the one time he wanted a steak knife to cut his own food, or when he wanted to see the pocket knife on her dresser. Why knives? She had no clue, and didn’t want to think about it.

“Put me in the Coral enclosure!” Mars hissed as she began heading for the backroom to break down the box and put it in recycling.

“Okay,” She hummed, knowing he likely wanted to show off to Brutus his new clothes. She’d need to remember to mention it to Sammie that she needed to pay for it.

Dropping off Mars in the enclosure and finishing up with the box, she went about seeking the red-headed woman. Sierra had to stand and wait as she finished up a pet visit with a family, the parents and small girl leaving with an apology that the dog just wasn’t fit for them.

“Hey kiddo, need something?” Sammie asked, puppy in her arms and bringing it to the cage it had been in.

“Just needed to tell you Mars picked out a sweater and jacket I need to pay for,” Sierra hummed quietly.

“Alright! Let’s go do that now before we both forget!” Sammie giggled, waving her along as they walked to the front counter, Sierra pulling out her card to pay. “So how is little Mars doing?”

“...he’s...moody, but I can’t fault him for it,” Sierra explained softly.

“All Corals are in the beginning, he should start warming up soon!”

“...doubt it,” Sierra shrugged, handing over the card when Sammie held out her hand for it.

“Don’t say that! You two just got off on a bad foot, and you’re still hurting,” Sammie smiled gently, giving back the card. “I’m sure Mars would happily start seeing you as an eager owner if you just gave him a little affection.”

“I’ve tried-”

“Have you?” Sammie asked, not necessarily accusing her, but concerned and knowing what she’d seen so far was not nearly as affectionate as the teen had been with the Corny. “You don’t pet him when you’re thinking like you did the Corny.”

Sierra was quiet at that, focusing on putting away her card and then slipping the wallet back into her pocket, “It has nothing to do with my Corny-”

“I didn’t say it did, I just said you don’t pet Mars like you did with him.”

Sierra’s lips pressed into a tight line, her posture shifting from relaxed to uncomfortable and tight.

“Please just think about maybe talking with him a little, Mars would open up to you if you did the same to him first-”

“I need to finish restocking,” Sierra cut her off, turning on her heel and leaving.

Sammie sighed, watching the brunette walk out of sight into the aisles of the shop, running a hand through her own curls as a weight suddenly pressed on her shoulder.

“Those two seem fuckin’ peachy,” Brutus hummed sarcastically.

“Sierra still isn’t over the fact her Corny is gone.”

“I wasn’t aware she got those papers signed, maybe ya should’ve left him in the cage,” Brutus remarked, looking at Sammie from the corner of his socket.

“You know she didn’t have permission until it was too late.”

“Too late as in for you, or for the company schmucks who aren’t even around to see what’s going on?”

“Leave it, Brutus.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed~ the last bit with Sammie and Brutus wasn't planned, but it just slipped in there >w>
> 
> I also hope everyone is doing alright with the panic going on right now!! My town recently just started shutting stuff down, so I don't have school this week, which means there might be an extra chapter posted sometime between now and Friday ;)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, Sierra forgot to start taking her allergy meds!  
> Will her and Mars ever get past their rocky start?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: swearing, reference to possible punishment of some sort, mention of Corny and what happened to him
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! It should get a little better next chapter!
> 
> Also, I love getting comments! But if you do comment, let me know your opinion on something!
> 
> Would you guys prefer a flashback or have the chapter address a situation in present time?  
> (Also there will be a double update on Monday, so keep an eye out for that ;) )

Mars picked at a loose string on the couch boredly, knowing he’d probably get scolded for “ripping up the couch” again for doing it, but he really had nothing else to do. He wouldn’t dare pick at his sweater or jacket, the two items being his singular possessions since he got there. Mars wouldn’t say he was exactly bitter over that fact, but...it made him all the more worried about damaging or losing them.

Plus, it showed his owner at least cared enough about his wants to give him things. But that didn’t mean he liked her, nope, he still disliked everything about her, he wouldn’t spend any time with her if he could. Only now, Mars didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter, as always.

He shot a look to the blanket covered form of Sierra on the other side of their weird L-shaped couch, asleep. Mars didn’t understand how humans got sick, but he did know the day before that she’d started clearing her throat a lot, which turned into hacking towards the evening. Then, when she woke up sounding like she’d tried to eat sandpaper, she just called in and told him they were staying home.

It sucked not being able to talk to Brutus that day, but he didn’t mind the downtime in the house. Mars even more so appreciated the fact that Sierra’s parents seemed to be absent from the house, which meant he was allowed to free roam. Although, he’d already covered the entire downstairs after Sierra had sluggishly brought him downstairs, turned on the tv and promptly fell back asleep.

Supposedly from what Mars overheard her saying on the phone was it was just her allergies acting up and irritating her throat, all he knew is he didn’t like whatever these ‘allergies’ were and wanted her to not have them. Seeing her look so miserable from something she defined as mild made him not want to see what it meant when they could be severe instead.

Not that he didn’t like seeing her miserable, anything that made her unhappy was good in his books...although it bothered him that  _ he  _ wasn’t the one making her life hell. Mars knew he could make it worse, wake her up and demand attention, but he’d already gotten his breakfast while she had been lumbering around before collapsing on the couch. Sierra also left the tv on for him, some kind of ‘crime’ show that he didn’t exactly care for, but it was something to stay distracted past ripping up a string from the couch.

Mars yelped when suddenly another small skeleton face was up in his, throwing himself backwards, thrashing his tail out of the comfortable coil he had been in before realizing it was just Brea’s little shit of a Pygmy, Biibii.

“Sorry!” The bright blue lamia apologized quickly, Mars hissing when he tried helping him up.

“Fuckin’ lower your voice,” Mars rumbled.

“Language!”

“SHUT UP!” Mars spat, pointing towards where Sierra was oblivious to them, not even facing their way.

Biibii flinched and glanced over, shrinking in on himself, smiling sheepishly, “Sorry!” He whispered, or at least what he deemed a whisper.

“What the fuck do you want?” Mars hissed, coiling back up in his new spot, arms crossed and glaring.

Biibii was such a piss poor name in his opinion for a lamia, but he knew the Pygmy probably didn’t give a shit, probably thought it was the best name ever because it was ‘his name’ and ‘his owner gave it to him, so it had to be amazing!’. Mars never enjoyed dealing with Pygmies at the shop, too much energy and loudness for him.

Biibii was no better, but his small blessings were the fact that one, Sierra worked all week except one day, and two, Sierra didn’t leave her room with him unless they had to on that day off. So, he never had to deal with Biibii if he didn’t want to. Unfortunately, he was not so lucky today it seemed.

“I came down to see what you were doing!” Biibii chirped. “Brea knew her sister wasn’t feeling well, she’ll be down soon too!”

“How the fuck did ya get down the stairs?”

“Language!” Biibii whined again. “The Magnificent Biibii was able to weave down on the bannister edge, between the supports, instead of down the stairs!”

The Pygmy puffed up his chest as if proud of that claim, being able to figure out his way downstairs without needing help.

Mars rolled his eyelights at the overly loud claim, hissing for the Pygmy to lower his voice once more. “Well, I’m watching a show, so shut up or leave.”

Biibii looked over his shoulder at the tv, blinking and then turning back to Mars, “Oh, sorry!” Biibii replied, voice hushed thankfully again as he moved out of the way, slithering towards Sierra.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” Mars hissed loudly, the Pygmy pausing and looking back, confused.

“...she needs to wake up and eat? Brea said she needed to take her medicine if she wants to get better, and she has to eat to take it?” Biibii asked back.

“Don’t fuckin’ touch her!” Mars snapped. “She doesn’t like it!”

“She’s always holding you though!” Biibii argued.

“ _ I’m _ her lamia, not you! Why would she want a little baby shit like you touching her?” Mars jeered, Biibii flinching as his face lit up blue in embarrassment, despite his own attempt at a glare.

“Language! And I’m not a baby!” Biibii argued, Mars grinning seeing his faint shaking as he crossed his arms, pouting.

“Only babies get bothered by adult language,” The Coral continued to sneer. “Sierra doesn’t like babies, that’s why I’m her snake and not one of your little shit subspecies.”

Biibii was tearing up now, “Brea and Sierra’s parents picked us out! You don’t know what kind she would’ve picked out on her own!”

“Yeah I fuckin do and it would’ve been  _ none  _ of us,” Mars snickered, despite his own soul aching at the reminder. “She only liked a Corny and he’s  _ dead _ , so tough shit, little shit.”

Biibii stared in horror before flinching when someone cleared their throat, both lamias looking over towards the living room entryway where Brea was standing. For a thirteen year old, she did look serious and very unimpressed. Mars didn’t care how much she heard, puffing and turning back to the tv, lounging on his coils.

“Brea! Mars was being mean!” Biibii complained as she walked over and scooped him off the couch. “I didn’t get to wake up Sierra!”

“That’s fine, I’m going to make her breakfast before we wake her up,” Brea hummed, glaring at Mars. “And Mars, stop being such a bully. Biibii was doing what I asked, and he’s not a baby.”

“No more than you’re not a kid,” Mars snapped.

Brea rolled her eyes, “Knock it off, you’re lucky mom isn’t around to hear you, she isn’t as forgiving about f-bombs or calling people names as Sierra is. She won’t hesitate to discipline you if Sierra won’t.”

Mars shuddered at the reminder, not needing to know just how fast that lady could become a bitch. Shouting, blame games and taking away anything over any small slight towards her, whether imaginary or real.

“...fuck off,” Mars mumbled, turning back to the tv as Brea simply sighed and headed to the kitchen.

-

It wasn’t until it was well into the afternoon that Sierra seemed to be doing a little better, although her entire time of being awake was now eating cough drops to not sound like she was a zombie. Mars was comfortably curled on her stomach, the flattest and warmest surface for him to lie on for the moment with her lying back. Sure, he could’ve told her to suck it up for him to sprawl out across her entire torso to be closer to her soul for a nap, but he didn’t like the fact she’d dropped her phone nearly on her face twice already in just the past fifteen minutes.

Both times she’d jumped, he’d startled awake just as he’d been dozing, and he was getting really tired of not being able to nap on her after letting her sleep for so long. Not that he could complain, he could’ve slept with her that entire time, but it was better for him to stay awake to keep the little shit Pygmy or her sister from waking her up every five minutes. Not that Sierra needed to know that, and Brea seemed unconcerned with telling her how Mars had acted towards them earlier in the day.

Sierra sighed heavily and suddenly started sitting up, one hand gently scooping Mars off her in his coil, setting him aside as he glared at her.

“Where’re you goin?” Mars grumbled, sitting up with his arms crossed.

“Bathroom, and no, don’t even ask to come with me, it will literally be two minutes,” Sierra hummed as she stood and stretched before leaving the living room.

“Why does she still sound like she gargled razor blades?” Mars huffed, looking towards Biibii and Brea. “She should be better already after taking medicine!”

“It doesn’t work like that, Mars,” Brea hummed, Biibii lounging under her soft, full body strokes, the Pygmy purring faintly.

“Why doesn’t she go on a walk? Fresh air makes everyone feel better!” Biibii chirped.

Brea sighed, “Sierra doesn’t like going for walks, or doing anything outside, really,” She hummed. “Plus, it’s the pollen outside that’s making her sound so horrible, it makes her nose stuffy and runny, and irritates her throat.”

Mars grumbled as Biibii argued about getting up and moving being just as good as medicine rather than lying around, Brea just letting the Pygmy chat away, the Coral ignoring them at that point as Sierra came back into the living room.

“I want to go for a walk!” Mars loudly demanded, startling the older teenager.

“...okay…?” Sierra replied, brows furrowed and obviously confused.

“Now!”

Sierra sighed almost defeatedly, nodding and rubbing at her forehead, “Sierra, you don’t have to go out if you don’t want, I can take Mars and Biibii out for a walk-”

“No!” Mars spat. “Don’ fuckin’ touch me!  _ Sierra  _ will go on a walk with me!”

Brea was glaring at the Coral now, mouth open to retort before Sierra waved her hand for her not to bother.

“Okay, just give me a few minutes to get dressed and we can go for a walk, Mars,” Sierra sighed, heading upstairs slowly to get dressed.

“ _ You’re _ the little shit,” Brea commented towards Mars sharply.

Mars flicked his tongue at her before flipping her the bird, Brea rolling her eyes and turning her attention back to the tv, Biibii quiet and continuing to enjoy the petting he was receiving.

Mars felt a familiar burn in his soul but looked away before it grew, agitated and definitely  _ not _ thinking about how nice it would be if Sierra gave him that type of attention too.

-

“No! Don’t put me down!” Mars huffed once they reached the park, clinging to the small hoop earring Sierra had in, making her wince.

“You wanted to go for a walk-”

“Yeah, as in I sit on your shoulders, and you walk!” Mars snipped, earning another heavy sigh from the brunette as she mumbled a reluctant agreement.

It wasn’t but two minutes into the walk at the park that Mars grew antsy. Sierra was obviously still tired and her slow pace showed it. She wasn’t on her phone, but she wasn’t looking around, which meant from what he’d learned that Sierra was spacing out. That meant no focus was on him or what they were doing.

“If I asked you to let me go into the bushes, would you?”

_ That  _ had Sierra flinching and stopping, startled at the question. She didn’t reply, but was still paused on the trail, and when Mars looked up the expression was one he’d seen when he’d sharply pulled her hair one time. Apparently she had a sensitive scalp and that had been the first time he nearly got hit. Not on purpose, but he’d barely ducked her hand when it flew to the spot he’d nearly ripped out the hair, and her face had been tight in pain.

“Oh so that fuckin bothers you?!” Mars snarled. “That I don’t want to stay with you?! You don’t even fucking want me!”

Sierra didn’t reply, avoiding even looking at him, even purposefully turning her face away from him.

“You’re a bitch!” Mars continued. “Do you realize that?! Just because I’m a pet doesn’t make me a convenient company when you want it! What the fuck is up with that anyways?! One day you don’t want to pick me up or even touch me, ignore my talking, and then the next you’re real content to fucking pet me, or give short replies! Am I just that much of an inconvenience that you only want to deal with me when you feel too shitty to not?! I don’t need your fucking pity!”

Sierra winced at the insult, but still Mars received no response, the only thing showing he was getting to her was the agonized pulsing of her soul over the verbal assault, and even that was slowly being closed off. He’d seen and felt it before, when her mom yelled in the house, and Sierra went from quiet to short and silent with her responses unless forced to respond to avoid getting in trouble for not.

“Why don’t you just return me to the store, huh?! At least then we don’t have to deal with each other! I can get an owner who gives a shit, and you don’t have a shitty replacement for the dead Corny you never had!”

Sierra let in a shaky breath finally, and her attempt to keep a steady exhale failed horribly, Mars falling silent when she finally closed herself off completely. His own soul was aching, not that she was as in tune to either of their souls to know it, but he almost thought he felt guilty when she wiped away a few tears that escaped.

“Can’t handle the bitter truth?” Mars remarked, although he felt more disconnected from his own sneering now, tone weak.

Sierra once more didn’t respond, despite her shaky and deep breathing to try and hide the fact she was so affected by his ranting was failing.

Mars didn’t care at this point, his own sockets stinging with the threat of crying with the lack of being able to even sense her soul now. He’d never experienced her completely closing herself off, even when her mom was yelling, and it felt like her warmth had been replaced by ice. He glanced away from her, arms crossed.

“I want to go home.”

Sierra simply nodded and turned around, heading back down the path as he demanded.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nice hangout goes wrong! But whose fault is it really?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: swearing, reference of euthanization/being put down, indirect insulting, mention of muzzling, mention of physical punishment
> 
> Wow I'm a sucky poster, it feels like every day I'm supposed to update the update time gets later and later into the day.  
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Jenny:  _ Hey, you’re still coming out with us today, right? _

Sierra frowned faintly at the text, exiting from the app to check her calendar for whatever they’d been planning. She really hoped it wasn’t something too long like a shopping trip, which could easily turn into a four or six hour hang out.

Sunday - 1pm: Lunch with Jenny, Beth and Nicki

Sierra sighed heavily, free hand hesitantly touching the infinity scarf Mars was curled up in. He’d been quiet and bitey over the past week, and she knew it was from the one-sided argument they’d had earlier in the week. She wasn’t sure how to address the fact she couldn’t return him willingly. At this point it wasn’t even being ‘that person’, the kind to return a pet when it became too much work.

The kind who gave up on her Corny when he just wasn’t what they wanted, after weeks of emotional neglect and next to no contact.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t considered it, either, as much as she hated the fact she had. During her more upset moments after Mars would hit a little too close to home on certain insecurities, certain sore points with his remarks. She’d even asked Sammie if Mars would react the way her Corny had if she returned him, and learned that no, he wouldn’t.

But Sammie wasn’t one for sugar coating, and while a returned Coral might not have reacted like her Corny, it  _ would  _ be worse. Corals attached so much quicker, as much as they’d loathe to admit it. They were reliant on their owners soul, as much as any lamia, for stability of their own souls. She also knew that Corals, as sour and degrading as they could be with their remarks, were just one of their ways of seeking attention.

Biting, breaking things, yelling, swearing, and making snide comments, despite those actions often resulting in negative attention, it was attention. It gave the Corals the focus on them they craved, and she most certainly was  _ not  _ the type of person that could handle one. But it was a little late to be realizing that, and she felt guilty, knowing she should have asked Sammie about Corals sooner.

Sierra winced when her phone buzzed twice in her hand, gently petting over whatever part of Mars’ coil was pressed against the scarf before focusing on the texts again.

Jenny:  _ Uh hello??? Can we get a response?? _

Beth:  _ Biiiiiitch you best not be sleeping still, it’s 10 am. _

Sierra gave a tiny smile, thinking that maybe a small outing with them wouldn’t be as dreadful as she felt it would be.

Sierra:  _ Yeah I’m still coming. _

Jenny:  _ Sweet! You’re bringing your lamia right?? You still haven’t told us what species he is!! You never post anything!! _

Nicki:  _ Give us some pictures lady!! _

Sierra lost the smile at their insistence, not wanting to make Mars upset by asking for a picture when she knew just going out for her friends to see him was going to be testing some already sensitive boundaries. He’d gotten pissy being left alone, and even more so when he complained about not being able to relax, having to hold onto her neck during his naps. It was why she’d gotten out the old infinity scarf, not one to wear accessories in general, but if it made Mars more comfortable…

Sierra:  _ You’ll see him at lunch today, screw off >:P _

Beth:  _ BIIIIIIITCH YOU DID NOT _

Sierra muted the group and left the app for the moment, standing from her desk as she stretched and sighed. Mars poked his head up with a glare from the scarf, but didn’t say anything.

“I’m going to set you on the bed so I can get dressed,” Sierra hummed quietly, pulling the infinity scarf off gently and setting it down with him in it.

At this point she was unbothered by his constant staring, although the fact of being watched while getting dressed still made her close the bathroom door once she stepped in. She hadn’t been wanting to get changed from pajamas for the day, but now she had to put effort into making sure she was at least half decent for the outing.

When Sierra stepped back out, Mars was watching her from the infinity scarf still, little red eyelights glancing her over curiously.

“Thought you don’t have work today?” Mars asked boredly.

“I don’t,” Sierra replied honestly, gently picking up the scarf with him in it and putting it on so he was resting against her chest.

“Where the fuck ‘re we going then?”

“Out.”

Sierra didn’t need to look down to know he was either glaring or squinting at her over the lack of information on where they were going.

“Fine, be fuckin ominous then, bitch,” Mars grumbled, curling up again.

Sierra sighed faintly, hesitantly brushing her fingers over him through the infinity scarf as she grabbed her purse and headed downstairs.

“We’re going to see some of my friends and have lunch,” She explained quietly now. “They have lamias too.”

Mars poked his head out once more, glaring, “You think I wanna deal with other lamias?” He snapped.

Sierra winced, grabbing her keys as she slipped out of the house through the garage, “You don’t have to, I just know you don’t care for Biibii…” She trailed off, unlocking her car and tossing her purse to the passenger seat before getting in herself.

“Cause he’s a whiny baby shit,” Mars huffed, watching out the window now as she started driving.

Sierra sighed, quiet and letting him stew in a grumpy silence, humming as she pulled up to the strip mall’s parking lot after a painfully awkward fifteen minutes.

“If you don’t like them, I won’t make you talk to them,” Sierra relented finally as she started walking for the main strip.

Sierra:  _ I’m here, where’re we eating? _

Nicki:  _ We still got fifteen more minutes to spare! Come over to Hot Topic with me! _

Sierra sighed, heading for the farthest side of the strip, Mars continuing to watch everything and everyone that passed by. It was a relief to get inside the store where it was darker and quieter, Nicki waving from the back where she was looking through a rack.

“Hey! It’s great to see you!” Nicki smiled, going in for a side hug that Sierra reluctantly returned.

Mars hissed and lunged warningly, “Fuck off! No touching!” He snipped.

Nicki was quick to startle away from the both of them, Sierra’s face flushing a faint pink. Nicki’s own lamia, a pied Mamba lunging at Mars, the the blonde immediately fumbling to keep him against her.

“No! Hey! Concord!” Nicki scolded once she rangled the lamia back to her shoulder.

“He tried to bite you!” The Mamba argued, the two bitties having a staredown from their respective perches.

“Okay, and?” Nicki challenged. “Am I bit?”

Concord frowned and looked away, tongue flicking as Mars stuck his out while he wasn’t looking, “No.”

“Then no attacking!” Nicki huffed, looking to Sierra again. “I’m sorry, Mambas are amazingly protective, but Concord here a little too much.”

Regardless Nicki was gently petting the Mamba’s skull.

“Oh, but you know that already, huh?” Nicki asked, blushing now. “You work at that mixed pet shop.”

Sierra nodded, hand resting over Mars in the scarf, the Coral having crossed his arms and turned away indignantly to not acknowledge the other pair.

“Let me get checked out real quick and we can head over to the place Beth and Jenny picked out to eat!”

Sierra nodded despite feeling like her soul was shriveling up. Beth and Jenny in charge of food meant they were going to the fanciest place within walking distance of the mall. That meant lunch was going to be more anxiety inducing than she originally planned, and she was not at all dressed for something nicer.

Nicki was done fast, and the two were walking for the food spot not long after, Sierra’s hand still resting on Mars and the scarf, idly petting. Mars hadn’t bitten her yet or made a comment, so she didn’t stop when she realized she was doing it. Regardless, she didn’t feel great knowing she was doing exactly what he’d yelled at her about, because she wouldn’t be petting him otherwise the more she lingered on the intrusive thought.

“Here we are!” Nicki announced, Sierra flinching and stopping quickly before she shoulder checked her friend.

Sierra ducked her head as she stepped inside when Nicki held open the door, glancing around before spotting Beth and Jenny sitting in a booth, waving them over. She sat up against the wall so Nicki could sit across from Jenny, knowing the two being closer would keep the conversation going without awkward pauses.

Sierra noted the lamias lounging around Beth and Jenny’s shoulders, having only seen pictures of them before, considering the three hadn’t wanted her to feel left out without a companion of her own. Now she was able to see just how intimidating in size Beth’s King was.

She knew of course they were the largest of the Lamias, but the King, Bane, seemed to dwarf his owner when he was looped around her shoulders. Of course, the other blonde was a small girl in general, but Beth also always gloated how Bane was fifteen feet, two feet longer than some of the largest Kings, and a foot larger than the largest they’d heard of.

Jenny had her own large lamia as well, a Chain that was easily the size of a large King at around eleven feet named Chewie. The smallest of her three friend’s snakes was Concord, while her own little Mars was easily dwarfed by all of them. She’d never gotten a strict measurement on the Coral, but he had to be a little under three feet, always small compared to the others when he was in their enclosure.

“So how’s it been going with your lamia?” Beth asked Sierra once the three had been chatting a few minutes.

“It’s been alright,” Sierra replied quietly after a long moment of hesitation.

“What type is he? We can’t even see him, bring him out!”

Sierra clicked her mouth shut, hand stopping where it was petting Mars through the scarf, his little red eyelights still glaring out at them and the lamias.

“Oh, uh, he doesn’t like me picking him up, so he’s going to stay in my scarf…”

“Well then tell us what type he is!” Jenny huffed.

“He’s a full size Coral,” Sierra mumbled, sipping her water.

“What? Why would you get one of them? They’re so lazy and grumpy,” Beth asked, rolling her eyes. “You should’ve gotten like a Honey Bo or something, at least they’re not prone to biting.”

“...my parents got him for me,” Sierra cleared her throat. “And Mars is fine, Corals aren’t just mean and biting-”

“And at least I’m less of a bitch than you,” Mars quipped, sticking his tongue out at Beth, Bane hissing in warning.

“You let him curse? Sierra!” Jenny chastised. “You should flick him every time he does that!”

Sierra shot her an unamused look, “I’m not going to flick him for cursing! That’d just make him bite me-”

“Then you should at least muzzle him until he learns not to,” Nicki huffed, Concord hiding slightly in the collar of her hood.

“No! They’re smarter than a dog, I’m not going to muzzle him or flick him even if he is my pet!”

“Then why didn’t you ask your parents to return him? Get you a new lamia when the surprise wasn’t a surprise anymore?” Jenny asked. “You could’ve gotten a better one, like Beth said.”

“I am not going to return a lamia just because we don’t get along great-”

“Um, that’s kinda the whole purpose of being able to return them after a week, if you don’t get along it’s worse to keep them than to return them,” Beth huffed, brushing her hair over her shoulder.

“Mars is a Coral, nobody gets along with their Coral within a week-”

“Yeah, yeah, cause they’re all little ‘tsunderes’ or whatever shit the internet calls them,” Jenny rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t matter, your parents should’ve known to get you an easier lamia.”

“Oh yes, because a highly venomous and demanding little monster would be a better choice for a girl who barely can stand up for herself,” Nicki remarked, gently petting over Concord as if in apology. “Or better yet, her parents could’ve gotten her a snake with more energy than she has on a good day.”

“Well they could’ve waited to bring her to the shop to get her a Chain, than everything would’ve been perfect for them.”

“There’s no guarantee at any shop of running into your chain if you’re looking for one,” Sierra argued. “I am perfectly fine with Mars-”

“Well yeah, you’re not the type to admit you dislike a gift,” Beth hummed. “But c’mon, you have to admit having a nicer lamia like a King or Chain, or even Krait would be better than a whiny, mean-”

Beth shrieked when her glass was knocked over and dumped into her lap, Sierra jumping and scrambling to scoop Mars up from where he’d lunged out onto the table.

“Bitch!” Mars yelled, fighting to get away from Sierra, Bane snarling and lunging forward as well now, unbothered the last three glasses were knocked over and spilled into the seats and onto the floor.

It was a large, loud commotion of Beth yelling about how Sierra’s ‘demon snake needs to be put down’ and Bane threatening to dust Mars for attacking his owner. They were subsequently kicked out and banned for the week, all three wet from the glasses being knocked over. Beth was furious and still yelling even as Jenny led her away, Nicki lingering with Sierra, the brunette repeatedly apologizing for the mess and ruined lunch.

“Hey, hey, relax,” Nicki repeated for at least the fifth time. “Mars got offended, Concord would do the same thing if it was aimed at him.”

Sierra sighed shakily, hands still held against Mars gently in her scarf, the Coral having done nothing but hissed and spat after he stopped fighting her hold and begrudgingly had returned to her scarf.

She was about to reply again, but Mars suddenly piped up with a sneer, “You say that but he’d probably be too scared of being muzzled again because you’re a bitch too!”

Concord was quick to hide in the collar of Nicki’s hoodie again, the blonde sighing and running a hand through her hair, ignoring the Coral.

“Let’s just call it a day, yeah? We all have our problems, and I’m sorry we invited you out when you and your lamia obviously aren’t as connected yet,” Nicki told her gently. “I need to get home and get changed for something later anyways, but I’ll see you around, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Sierra replied quietly. “See you.”

With that the two girls went their separate ways for their cars, Sierra walking slow and quiet with her hand resting on Mars and the scarf, attention elsewhere and nowhere. Mars was silently stewing, wishing he’d gotten a bite off on either the King or his owner, pissed at the comments they’d been making, how distressed Sierra’s soul had been the moment the topic came up of him being returned-

“I’m sorry they talked about you like that,” Sierra apologized softly, Mars startling and looking up at her, surprised before his sockets narrowed suspiciously.

“Yeah, like you actually care.”

“...still, what they said was thoughtless, they shouldn’t compare you to their own snakes,” She continued, hesitating on how to address what she wanted to tell him without seeming two faced. “You’re a good Coral, and I knew what I was getting into keeping you...yes, you’re mean, and you bite, but all Corals are. You haven’t broken anything at least, and for that I’m grateful.”

Mars was silent, cheeks a furious red as she got into the car, stunned and confused, still unsure over how much he kept getting away with around her. The swearing, the yelling, the insults and now he’d completely ruined her lunch with friends, and she wasn’t mad? Disappointed, sure, he could feel that from a mile away, but it wasn’t completely aimed at him at least.

Mars huffed and crossed his arms, huddling down into the scarf again, “Whatever, you’re still a bitch,” He mumbled half-heartedly.

“...okay,” Sierra replied simply, no longer addressing the situation as she began to drive them home.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's give Sierra and Mars a break and look at what Sammie is up to!
> 
> Sammie has her own lamia to worry about, we meet a new friend, and get to reintroduce an old one!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check the end notes for content warnings, they're not horrible, but they're spoilery and I want this chapter to be a surprise!
> 
> Also, please note that I am a bastard and I make no apologies for such :)
> 
> I hope you enjoy the chapter!! And I also hope the fact it's the longest one yet makes up for the fact it's a day late from when I promised it!

“How’s it been going on your end?”

“Fine. They’re checking in less and less, lingering for less time, I think they’re starting to realize they won’t find anything.”

“That’s good, means they’re bigger idiots than we thought.”

“Only these grunts, the Association is so much larger than just the branch in our little city,” Sammie sighed, eyes scanning over the store once more for any people who might’ve gotten in when she wasn’t listening for the bell.

“But they’re losing suspicion, which means it’ll be safe to transport again soon.”

“And you’re certain it’s safe to have him away from one of the rescues, or rehomed in a new city?”

“They stopped tailing the girl after the first month, and I had my person stop keeping an eye on her at the two month mark, they couldn’t care less about her.”

“Good...that’s good, I don’t need her getting involved in this mess,” Sammie sighed, finishing sorting the folders for adoption papers for the third time in the past hour. “How about on your end? Anything new popping up?”

“Yes, actually. We found a few more cases of the BAA taking returned bitties directly, it’s being brought to court for evidence of them breaking their own legal requirements again.”

“That’s good,” Sammie hummed, glancing up and watching as Sierra took two puppies from the backroom to return to their cleaned enclosure.

“The chance of it actually sticking it shit, though. They’ve BSed their way through over one hundred of cases like this before, or paid off the judge, which is even harder to make a case for.”

“Can always hope.”

“Yeah, well, you keep hoping and I’ll keep trying to stab whatever weak spots I can find on the belly of the beast. You keep safe.”

“You too, bye.”

Sammie sighed heavily as she pulled off her glasses, pinching the bridge of her nose before pulling out her bluetooth earbud to put it away to charge. She wasn’t surprised by the sudden weight on her shoulder, but she knew well enough that Brutus had seen her expression from across the store.

“What’s goin’ on with the boss man?” Brutus hummed, leaning heavily against the side of her neck.

“We’ll talk about it at home,” Sammie sighed softly. “Okay?”

She suffered through the usual side-eye Brutus gave her, the Edgy discontent with the answer he received, but begrudgingly accepting it nonetheless. He nipped her ear before sinking down properly to sit on her shoulder.

“Mars not keeping you occupied enough?” Sammie jested lightly, the Edgy shrugging.

“He’s decent ‘nough, little ass to his owner still, though.”

“Yeah, Sierra’s been saying as such, not in such an insulting manner, though,” Sammie chuckled softly, waving and greeting a family as they came through the door.

“He shoulda been attaching to ‘er by now, it’s been a month,” Brutus rumbled, picking at his gold tooth.

“Well, Sierra hasn’t exactly been very receptive, now has she?”

“...nah, guess not,” Brutus shrugged. “And bein’ from a regular bitty shop, spending six months sitting in the enclosure, bein’ passed up by everyone who showed interest? I bet he’s expectin’ ta lose her interest eventually, too.”

“That’s just how you little Edgy-types are, lamia or not,” Sammie teased, booping him on the head with her finger and earning two rows of teeth marks for it.

“Fuck off,” Brutus rumbled with no real venom behind it, sliding down to her scarf and adjusting to lie down in it. “‘m takin’ a nap, you’re too sappy for me.”

“And you’re all  _ bark  _ and no bite.”

“That’s a lie and you know it.”

“Hey, at  _ leaf  _ I tried.”

-

“Hey, Sierra, can you wait a minute while I lock the door?”

Sammie was locking the door before the teen could reply, knowing the teen would wait, even if she couldn’t hear if she responded or not.

“Can we walk and talk for a minute?”

The smaller brunette blinked before slowly nodding, “Sure?”

“Great!” Sammie smiled, beginning to walk with her for the closest parking lot three blocks away. “Brutus told me things between you and Mars are still a little rocky?”

Sierra’s cheeks seemed to flush a faint pink, but Sammie couldn’t tell considering her cheeks were almost always pink. The Coral peeked out from her own scarf with a glare at her talking about him while he was present.

“...it hasn’t been...great...but it’s getting a little better,” Sierra shrugged lightly.

“Well that’s good!” Sammie smiled encouragingly. “One of these days you should take one or two off to spend time with him!”

Even Mars seemed to wince at the suggestion, ducking back into Sierra’s scarf and going still after getting comfortable once more.

“Has he set up his own nest yet?” Sammie asked to switch the subject.

“Yeah...it’s under my bed behind my suitcase,” Sierra replied softly, Sammie observing as the teen rested a hand on the Coral where he was curled in her scarf.

It made her smile slightly, seeing she was at least being more physical in petting the snake, or at least touching him idly.

“That’s nice! My sweet Honey Bo keeps his in my linen closet,” Sammie giggled faintly.

“I didn’t know you had a lamia,” Sierra responded quietly after a moment, curious but obviously not about to ask what she was curious about.

“He’s new to the household! I work with a specific rescue organization that focuses on bitty cases,” Sammie explained. “The store refuses to acknowledge it, because they’d lose BAA funding, but I have the certification for rehabilitation. Anyways, he’s a rescue!”

“...oh, that’s cool…” Sierra smiled softly. “At least he has a nice home, now. Do your other bitties like him?”

“He actually hasn’t interacted with them much!” Sammie shrugged. “Brutus talks to him here and there when the linen closet is cracked open, Lemon and Nova say he comes out when I’m not home to watch tv with them. So I feel he’s doing pretty well, having company, I just need to give him some space for a bit to settle in and adjust.”

Sierra nodded as she listened to Sammie ramble on, despite the fact they were already in the parking lot, standing beside her own car for several minutes now.

“Well, I’ll see you the week after next!” Sammie smiled. “Have a good night, kiddo!”

“You too!” Sierra responded, barely louder than usual, but it was louder, and left Sammie grinning as she strolled to her car, heading home herself once she made sure Sierra left safely.

As much as the morning commute sucked to get into the city, she enjoyed leaving later in the evening, going from the bustling streets to the suburban neighborhoods and finally her own home, barely close enough to be considered suburban itself. She was eager to get a quick dinner ready, and then head to bed, or just fall asleep on the couch, whichever would happen first.

“Lemon, Nova, I’m home!” Sammie called, shutting the door and kicking off her shoes, pulling Brutus out of her scarf to plop him onto the couch.

“Shhh!” Nova hissed after running out from around the corner, the small Softie-Edgy mix glaring at her.

“Sorry,” She whispered back. “Is Monarch asleep?”

Nova was quick to shake his head, glancing back towards the linen closet and then her again, hesitating as Lemon came trotting out, the taller bitty waving before stopping beside Nova.

“Monarch just laid his batch of eggs,” Lemon explained as Sammie crouched down, her eyes widening.

“Really? Wow, I didn’t expect it to happen so soon,” Sammie hummed.

“Well he is technically a week late,” Nova pointed out. “He said when he got here he’d already been gravid for a week!”

“The stress of being removed from the breeder’s home and rehomed probably kept him from having them...I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s comfortable and feels safe, but those eggs weren’t waiting on him any longer,” Lemon explained.

Sammie nodded, “Is he hungry? I was just about to make dinner, but I can grab out the raw chicken for him and cut a few slices.”

“Please! He never ate lunch!” Nova whined. “He was uncomfortable all day until he finally started laying them fifteen minutes ago!”

“Alright, alright, I’ll go get some chicken cut up and you can give it to him,” Sammie smiled, petting Nova and Lemon’s skulls. “You’re the best little caretakers, thank you for taking care of him while I’m gone.”

“You’re welcome!”

-

The next morning was an early and long one, Sammie throwing together breakfast for her bitties and then a lunch being made and put in the fridge for later. She wanted to check in on Monarch after giving him the night to rest and adjust, but knew that the Honey Bo wouldn’t handle her approaching him in his nest very well. So, she left with a simple goodbye to her bitties and even a soft one to Honey Bo through the closet door, not receiving one in return.

Even if she wasn’t going into work, it felt like she was when she started on the long drive. The city was closer than her sister’s place, but she needed to make her bi-weekly visit, and it was the only day she had available. Not that it bothered Sammie, using her free day to travel two hours into the countryside, but it was a little tiresome doing it so often.

The country road drive was nice enough, at least, seeing all the animals and little ranches and farms that so few people visited. It was quiet and isolated, the perfect place for what her sister did for work.

Pulling onto the road leading up to the scattered houses on her sister’s property was always a sight, the fences often lined with the horses and cows or other large animals her sister was taking care of for however long. Lots of babies this time of year, it seemed, which wasn’t a shocker.

Sammie parked out front of the largest ranch house that her sister lived in, but didn’t head inside. Instead she headed over for one of the guest houses, the nearest one to the large house. She pulled out a key and unlocked the door, knowing her sister had likely already made her rounds feeding everyone breakfast. The thought was only cemented by the fact she could see each of the little enclosures lining the walls, bitties and lamias eating on raw meats and other foods depending on their needs.

Sammie was always so wonder struck seeing the amount of bitties her sister took care of, along with the lamias. Working as a vet, breeder and rescue of several types of costly animals had its advantages and disadvantages, and just thinking of trying to balance that workload and the costs were enough to just make her sweat.

“Hello, Sammie!” A voice chirped from one of the open enclosures on the ground, more of a child or puppy pen lined with moss, and a plastic box with blankets in each corner.

The one lamia talking to her was an albino Papython, looking up at her with little glasses on his face to help offset his bad eyesight.

“Hey there Pearl,” Sammie greeted back with a soft smile. “Do you know where Delilah is?”

“She went to feed the baby calves their bottles but then she’ll be back!” The Papython happily informed her.

“Thank you, I’ll let you get back to keeping an eye on your little gang,” Sammie smiled, waving slightly at the lamia as she headed through the rooms.

It was completely filled with bitties and lamias, since they were the easiest to fit into smaller areas when they were miniature, and it was good to keep them near their own kind. Sammie wasted her time greeting a few of the friendlier bitties, opening the little glass doors to pet them, looking at a few babies here and there.

“Sammie!”

The red head turned hearing her name, smiling and watching as an identical red head caming strolling into the room with a wide grin.

“It’s been too long!” Delilah laughed, pulling her into a hug.

“We see each other every other week,” Sammie commented amusedly, smiling.

“Well, that’s too long for me. But I know you’re not even here to see me! How rude to be your enabler to see cute animals.”

“Uh huh, I’d much rather see the cute bitties and lamias than your face,” Sammie jested.

“We have the same face.”

“I know, that’s what makes it so painful.”

“Wow, okay,” Delilah scoffed, heading out of the room with Sammie on her heels. “I have a few little guys I need you to take to the city to be picked up by their approved adopters! And I got the supplements for that Honey Bo you got recently to keep his magic levels up while stressed and taking care of his clutch.”

“Thank you again for ordering that for me,” Sammie smiled, walking with her out of the dubbed ‘Bitty Box’, because the little guest house was an awful little cube shaped place, and heading for the main house.

“Thank you for taking Monarch off my hands! The poor thing wouldn’t have made it through the night with the mayhem that goes on here,” Delilah sighed as she led Sammie inside. “And I have so many babies on my hands already I wouldn’t know what to do with more!”

Sammie nodded, walking with her upstairs and into one of the large guest rooms set up for temporary stay bitties that were to be either transferred to a rescue or adopted soon. She spotted a few of Delilah’s own lamias and bitties lounging about, rather than the helpful hands she kept in the Box.

“So when are you taking the sweet little blue thing off my hands?” Delilah asked, gently beginning to put the lamias and bitties into two large carriers lined with blankets.

“It should be within a week or two, the BAA is starting to really lose interest in seeing if I lied about him having dusted.”

“It’s been three months, I’m surprised they didn’t lose interest long before that,” The slightly older twin commented.

“They’re paranoid bastards, but I mean, they have a right to be considering I’ve ticked them off more than once when I wasn’t working for one of their funded shops,” Sammie shrugged, watching her finish up getting the adoption folders together now.

“They also have a right to be sent straight to hell in my opinion,” Delilah stated simply without even looking up.

“I don’t think many would argue that standpoint,” Sammie agreed. “I’m going to go check on the little guy and then I’ll help you carry them out.”

“Alrighty!”

Sammie wandered from the one side of the room where the table was for Delilah to get her stuff in order, to the other side, where everything was better established for the bitties to lounge or play. She smiled and pet a few of them, entertaining a few questions before she asked one of her own.

“Where’s the little Corny I brought in a few months ago?”

“He’s in the far cubby on the bottom!” One of the Mambas pointed.

“Thank you!” Sammie smiled, petting his head gently before standing from her crouch and walking over to the little house decorated cubby spot for bitties and lamias alike to sleep in. “Corny?”

Two little eyelights glared out at her suddenly, dark burnt magic on the bottoms of his sockets and a frown accompanying them.

“Go away.”

Sammie sighed softly, gently reaching in and petting over the closest part of his coil with a finger, “I’m here to check in on you.”

“I don’t want you to. Go away. You’re a liar.”

Sammie smiled faintly, knowing it was the truth, but it was for good reason. She lied a lot and very often, but it was for the greater good. Sammie knew the Corny didn’t see it that way.

“I know, but I have to make sure you’re doing alright,” Sammie explained, as she always did, and gently took the limp snake out of the cubby, not expecting him to fight because he’d never had.

The limp noodle act wasn’t much better than if he bit her, but at least she could look him over and make sure he hadn’t gotten hurt, whether on purpose or accident. Sammie could feel the faint outline of his spine as she pet over him, the coils noticeably thinner than any healthy lamia his size.

“You haven’t been eating,” Sammie sighed, looking at him despite the Corny avoiding her gaze.

“Not hungry. Can you put me down now?”

“No, we’re going to get you a chicken nugget or two first,” Sammie replied, holding him close as she headed off to go sift through her sister’s freezer.

“I’ll bring these down for you since you’re busy!” Delilah called as she left the room, laughing faintly.

“Thanks!” Sammie called back as she headed downstairs.

“I don’t want to eat,” The Corny complained, groaning when they entered the kitchen.

“You will soon because I have news for you!”

“More bullshit about it just being ‘a little longer’ before I can leave?” The Corny remarked dryly, watching with a poorly hidden look of hunger as she put three nuggets on a plate and popped them in the microwave.

“Actually no, I have more of a set date for you,” Sammie replied simply, earning a suspicious squint.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Hm, I know, you have no reason to,” Sammie shrugged, thumb brushing over a small portion of his body idly. “But in two weeks, give or take a day, it should be safe for you to be given to Sierra properly.”

“Why didn’t you do that shit before you stole me?!” The Corny snapped angrily.

“The BAA would’ve gotten there and left with you before Sierra arrived,” Sammy explained, unbothered by the angry ball of snake in her hand.

“Why not give me to her after they left then?”

“Because,” Sammie sighed, pulling out the plate and setting him down on a paper towel so he didn’t touch the cold counter. “The BAA would’ve made Sierra’s life hell and would have sooner let you dust than let her keep you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: allusions to illegal breeding of lamias, mentions of being followed/stalked, mentions of possible threats to livelihood of others
> 
> Let me know if I missed anything with the warnings!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Sierra and Mars time, as well as Mars being told he's getting thicc.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: none
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!! I'm so so sorry it's late D,:

Mars groaned as he flopped back in the bedding of the lamia enclosure at the shop, another complaint over the fact that Brutus still hadn’t shown up to keep him company. The Edgy should know by now that when he wasn’t with Sierra he wanted to chat! Sierra was still shit at conversation, not replying when she didn’t want to and simply leaving things at that, even when he tried chatting further.

The sudden pop of a teleport had him lunging back up into a sitting position on his coils, glaring and flicking his tongue at the smugly grinning bitty.

“Asshole! Sierra’s been at work for three hours and I’ve been sitting here for one!” Mars hissed, flinching back at the poke between his eyes from the larger bitty.

“Yeah yeah, shut up squirt,” Brutus snickered, sitting down in the shaved bedding of the enclosure beside him. “What ya want?”

“Well it’s kinda not boring to be able to talk to someone other than other lamias,” Mars huffed. “Or Sierra.”

“Ah, yeah, Sammie was talkin’ ‘bout how you two have been getting along better,” Sharp teeth grinned at him, but red eyelights still scrutinized him. “Heard ya’ve been less of an ass.”

Mars stuck out his tongue, crossing his arms and puffing, “Sierra was a bitch, I don’t see how being mean back makes me the bad guy.”

“Mm, I’m pretty sure I never heard her call you any names.”

Mars threw a handful of the soft bedding at his face, only earning a few snickers from the Edgy for his attempt to show his anger.

“She should’ve returned me to the store when she knew she couldn’t handle me,” Mars puffed.

“She seems to be doing fine if you’re not dust or Falling Down,” Brutus remarked, earning another handful of bedding thrown at him.

Mars rolled his sockets, “Like you can comment when your owner has more experience in bitties and lamias than most.”

Brutus shrugged, “My statement still stands.”

The Coral flicked his tongue at the Edgy, “Just because I’m alive doesn’t mean she actually cares about me. She just doesn’t want another dead snake on her hands.”

“Ay, the fuck I just say about you being the asshole?” Brutus snapped shortly.

“She’s not even nearby-!”

“Doesn’t matter, stop it with that shit,” Brutus growled. “She’s just a kid by human standards, can’t fault her for not being in the best place for experience with pets like us. Especially after losing a lamia before she even got it.”

“People keep saying that, but it’s been three and a half months and I’ve been with her for one and a half of those,” Mars spat.

“But she cares for ya, so shut up,” Brutus snarled in return.

“How do you know that when I can’t even tell if she does or not?!”

“Cause you’re alive, healthy and far as I know, she feeds ya our favorite condiment at least once a day at lunch,” Brutus listed off on his fingers.

“...twice,” Mars mumbled begrudgingly as he slumped into his coils.

Brutus grinned sharply, “See? Guess how many owners just give their lamias plain raw meat, hm? Sammie lets me have a mustard packet only once, during dinner, cause she knows Edgies are prone to gorging themselves on it when they can,” He chuckled, poking Mars’ coils. “You’re lookin a little pudgy yourself.”

Mars smacked away his hand with a huff of indignancy, “Fuck off, I’m not fat!”

“Not yet,” Brutus barked a laugh. “If ya don’t start doin’ more, might have ta tell Sammie to make Sierra lay off the amount of mustard she gives ya.”

Mars stuck his tongue out, “Asshole.”

Brutus shrugged, “I know what you are, but what am I?”

Mars shoved him into the bedding, the larger bitty snorting and laughing as he pouted, arms crossed and staring out the glass.

It wasn’t until lunch that Mars was lounging with Sierra again instead of the pen, eagerly taking the mustard packet she offered after he’d eaten his food. He’d ripped it open with his teeth before hesitating, staring at it and thinking about Brutus’ comment for apparently too long, considering Sierra seemed to notice his dilemma.

“...are you sick?” She asked, and he almost snorted.

“No, just fat, apparently,” Mars grinned, beginning to eat the mustard packet with a shrug.

Sierra’s brows furrowed, Mars could practically hear the gears cranking as she looked him over in confusion.

“Brutus said I was getting pudgy,” He remarked after drinking just about half of the packet.

Sierra frowned faintly now, still seemingly confused on if he was actually gaining weight or not.

“You don’t look pudgy…”

Mars shrugged, “He was probably just trying to be an ass,” He grinned. “Just like you’re a bitch.”

Sierra’s expression soured for a moment, but he didn’t feel a pulse of woundedness from her soul, so his attempt to strike a sore spot seemed to have fallen short of its target.

“I’ll have to ask Sammie,” She replied simply, sipping at her water bottle, filled with some awful packet of whatever she decided to mix into it that day.

Mars’ skull broke out in a blush, “I’m not fat!”

Sierra startled slightly at the sudden claim after seemingly being fine talking about him possibly being a little rounder, not necessarily fat.

“I’m not saying you are, but Sammie might know a little more about your ideal weight,” She sighed, picking at the paper wrapper around the water bottle.

Mars huffed and finished his mustard, turning his back to her to glare at the break room door. It was a few minutes later when Sammie came in to sit with them, and he hissed faintly at Brutus porting down to the table to sit next to him.

“What’s got you all wound up?” Sammie commented amusedly at the small lamia’s upset.

“He’s just a little bothered that I pointed out he’s been gaining weight,” Brutus grinned, catching Mars’ wrist when he tried to shove him off the table, letting the smaller bitty fight him uselessly to get his hand back as his face grew red.

Sammie giggled at the two as Mars resorted to trying to bite the Edgy bitty, and in turn got a solid headbutt clacked against his skull, leaving him flailing as he was let go after a squeak he’d never acknowledge if asked. Sierra watched on, concerned but not commenting over the mild roughhousing.

“He is looking a little rounder than he should be,” Sammie hummed. “The sides of his tail are a little raised compared to the ridge of his spine.”

“I’m not fat!” Mars fumed, snipping at the redhead’s hand touching his coil, tightening up on himself with his arms crossed.

“Not fat, just a little heavy,” Sammie replied amusedly. “I bet you get more than just a packet of mustard at home, huh? You give him the bottle during dinner, kiddo?”

Sierra’s cheeks flushed a faint pink, glancing away and seemingly shrinking into her chair, “...yeah.”

“So what! I’m not fat! She’s not making me fat!” Mars continued to try and intervene, to shut down the conversation as he grew redder in the face from embarrassment.

“Hm, maybe not on purpose, but you’ll get there eventually if you keep having free reign of mustard in the evening,” Sammie smiled. “If you want him to have some at lunch and at dinner, kiddo, maybe only give him the equivalent to a packet.”

Sierra nodded, Mars still squawking in outrage over the fact that he isn’t fat and wasn’t getting fat because of mustard, his rather loud irritation going unheard.

-

Mars was still pouting by the time they got home at eight, flicking his tongue each time Sierra tried asking what he was thinking, little red eyelights glaring at her.

“Do you want some mustard before bed?”

He perked up faintly at that before his expression soured remembering the conversation they’d had with Sammie and Brutus at lunch.

“Thought I was gettin’ fat?”

Sierra sighed heavily as she turned on the kitchen light, her parents either out or in bed already, either way it wasn’t really Mars’ concern. He was just grateful they weren’t in the living room or kitchen to make Sierra close off as she always did.

“You’re not fat, and like Sammie said, giving you the same amount as just a packet won’t hurt you.”

“Doesn’t that mean I should lose some weight first?” Mars huffed, but watched eagerly as she brought out the mustard bottle.

“Do you feel like you need to?”

Mars paused at that, blinking dumbly and his brain flatlining at the fact he had...never heard her ask his actual opinion before. At least in reference to himself, maybe.

“...kinda,” Mars mumbled, cheeks flushing faint pink and crossing his arms. “They called me pudgy.”

“Do you even known what pudgy means?” Sierra asked amusedly, but put away the mustard, turning off the light again and heading for the stairs.

“Fat,” Mars replied simply.

“Nope, slightly fat-”

“I just said that-!”

“-and generally used in the context of being small and cute,” Sierra finished, unbothered by the interruption and heading upstairs, closing her bedroom door behind them.

Mars’ skull lit up red now, “Shut up, you’re lying, bitch!” He snapped.

“Hush, Brea and Biibii are likely in her room getting ready for bed,” Sierra shushed, Mars startling backwards at the boop of her finger on his skull.

Mars snapped at her finger but didn’t manage to catch it, “Since when did you start gettin’ all touchy-feely?!”

Sierra seemed to freeze, and he could see the blank stare focused on her bed, like she was short circuiting. Mars assumed she rebooted, though, cause she was starting to move him from her neck.

“Uh-uh! You’re the one who started it!” Mars huffed, tightening his coils around her neck just to make it harder for her to take him off, althought she tensed.

“Mars, please don’t, I need to get changed-”

“I can stay here while you do it!”

Her cheeks turned pink about five seconds after that registered in her head, “No, you absolutely cannot.”

“Why not?”

“...my shirt wouldn’t fit around you when I take it off-”

“If it can fit over your big head it can fit around me-!”

“-it’s also not appropriate!” Sierra finished hurriedly. “Now please let go.”

Mars hissed faintly but loosened his hold to be moved to the bed, crossing his arms once he coiled up.

“Fine, but I’m sleeping with you tonight!”

Sierra blinked owlishly at him before her brows furrowed, “What? You haven’t done that since the first week…”

“Well I’m doing it now and you’re gonna let me!” Mars demanded, face turning more into a cherry than a skull.

“...okay,” Sierra sighed, pulling out pajamas from a drawer and disappearing into the bathroom.

Mars puffed and immediately dove off the bed the short distance to the carpeted floor, slithering under the bed to get to his nest tucked into the corner. It was filled with a few shiny knicknacks he’d managed to swipe around Sierra’s room. A shiny silver ring with leaves, a silver spider earring with a black stone, and a silver coin.

What he was after, however, was a thin gold necklace he knew she’d dropped behind the bed the week before. He’d initially planned to keep it, but after she looked for it the next morning, his plan had shifted to waiting to give it to her after a little while like he had found it.

Which, he really had, but she didn’t have to know it was before she asked him about it.

Mars slithered back out and sat coiled on the carpet, waiting for her to come out as he heard the sink run and then turn off. Sierra stepped out a moment later and turned off the light behind her, blinking when she saw him on the floor.

“I found your necklace while you were in there,” He hummed, holding it up as Sierra stared for a moment before smiling.

“Thank you Mars!”

Mars grinned wider as she took the necklace gently and set it on her nightstand before picking him up, sitting in the bed and setting him on her lap. He noticed she was still smiling faintly, and he blushed faintly, remembering what she’d said about the necklace being something her dad got her from overseas. Was it really that important to her?

He was too distracted wondering if he should’ve just given her the necklace earlier in the week to startle when he noticed she was petting a few fingers along his coils. What he did notice, however, was how warm her hands were. They always were, considering his magic leaned on the cooler side with his snake like half.

Mars didn’t mind it too bad, afterall, the only time he got the lucky warmth from her was when he was either in the scarf or she was petting him through the scarf whether she knew it or not. Was Sierra even aware she was petting him? He wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t, he noticed over the weeks she did a lot of things without paying attention.

Slowly he uncoiled so she could pet over the entire length of his tail, purring faintly at the enveloping and smooth movements of her hand over his scales. He had a heated blanket as part of his nest, the one time he begrudgingly let Sierra near his nest in order to stuff it under there and plug it in, but something about being pet or taking warmth from her felt so much nicer.

He refused to acknowledge the fact, along with the fact that a small, niggling part didn’t want her to stop. Mars didn’t want her to notice what she was doing, or the fact he was pressing into her touches when she reached the end of his tail, and her hand had to moved back to just below where his spine was covered by his tail to smooth down along his magic again.

Eventually the back of his tail felt decently warmed from her touch, and he squirmed onto his back, the rest of his tail following suite as her petting paused. Mars blinked up at her confusedly, realizing he might’ve startled her out of whatever daze she was in to pet him without hesitation. It was a sad thought that she’d stop, but he shivered when she started again.

This time, however, she was petting gently along the underside of his tail with just the side of her finger, trailing down the longer, more rectangular scales, over and over. It wasn’t as warm, but the feeling was just as soothing and Mars purred a little louder. It was nice, no talking, no stepping around eggshells between them, just nice.

Until the door suddenly slammed open, and both of them froze, Sierra just starting to trace down his belly again.

“...what the hell are you doing?!” Brea practically shrieked, making Sierra’s hands shoot away from Mars like she was just burnt, and he flipped around to hiss defensively at her tone.

“I’m just petting him!”

“Petting him how?!” Brea continued with her loud volume, seemingly appalled.

“Just petting him-!”

“It looked like you were touching him inappropriately!”

“It did!” Biibii piped up now, his skull a bright baby blue.

“Fuck off! It was not!” Mars snapped now, his own skull back to the bright red it had been earlier in the day.

“Well it looked like it!”

“What the hell are you two yelling about up there?!” Their mom suddenly screamed from downstairs, both of the girls jumped, and Mars dove under the blankets on Sierra’s lap.

“Nothing!” Brea yelled back.

“Then quiet down! Your father and I are trying to sleep!”

“We will!” Brea replied back, both waiting for the light to go off downstairs. “Be careful where you touch him, dumby!”

“I wasn’t doing anything other than petting him!” Sierra hissed back. “Get out of my room!”

Brea grinned and snickered as she went to shut the door, “Unless you want to touch him like that-”

She shut the door as Sierra chucked a decorative pillow at her grinning face.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some information on Bitty rescues and a glimpse into suspicious BAA articles. Oh, and Mars and Sierra have a late night heart to heart(kinda).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: mention of abused bitties, description of major injury on bitty + infection
> 
> This is kind of the chapter that branches away from the 'canon' information from Vex's lamias on Tumblr, even if it isn't heavily focused on.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!!

“How have your bitties been doing?” Sierra asked quietly when Sammie came into the break room, Brutus on her shoulder.

Sammie’s smile immediately broke out into a wide smile as she sat down, “They’ve been doing good! My sweet rescue Honey Bo has been getting more comfortable exploring while I’m at home!”

Sierra nodded as she listened, giving Mars a chip here and there for him to munch on after he’d finished his raw meat.

“That’s nice.”

“Yeah! And my other bitties, Nova and Lemon, having been getting real close with him too. Did I ever tell you the Honey Bo’s name? It’s Monarch. Anyways!” Sammie continued to ramble, Sierra content sitting and listening. “He was gravid with eggs for the week I had him, and finally laid the clutch the other week when I told you about him.”

“That’s good,” Sierra smiled. “How many?”

“Four! It’s about twice the size of a regular clutch for not only his breed, but his partner’s as well,” The redhead sighed. “Of course, we don’t have whatever King he was bred to, but the person we rescued him from had files on what each pregnant bitty had been bred to.”

“...you never told me he was rescued from a breeder?” Sierra asked curiously.

“Oh? Sorry! Breeding bitties and lamias isn’t illegal in itself, so long as they are consenting, but the conditions they were kept in were appalling,” Sammie sighed. “And he abused them from what we were told and saw, but I’ll leave out the details. Monarch was supposed to be laying his eggs around the time the rescue happened, but the stress of everything kept him from doing so. He’s really pretty, if you ever want to come over with Mars and just hang out.”

Sierra shrugged faintly, “Maybe...eventually,” She mumbled, glancing at Mars when her fingers were suddenly being nipped, finally just giving him a small pile of chips to work through while she was distracted.

“Of course, whenever you feel comfortable!” Sammie smiled widely. “But! I do want to ask if you’d like to come with me to visit my sister’s ranch this weekend?”

Sierra blinked, staring at the grinning redhead in silence for a moment, “...um…”

“She has horses.”

Well shit. A blush immediately rose to Sierra’s cheeks as Sammie laughed at her immediately interested expression, slowly shrinking into her chair as Mars squinted at Sammie.

“What are horses?” He asked, glancing between the two.

“Big, four legged, bug-eyed fuckers,” Brutus commented, getting a boop on his head from Sammie.

“Hey, Sierra loves horses,” She chastised. “At least, I would hope she did after the rambling talk she did for three hours a few weeks ago about them.”

Sierra was officially trying to disappear now, face bright red and making an uncomfortable noise.

“You can always tell me no! The horses aren’t going anywhere,” Sammie giggled at the teen’s dramatics, although she was sure it was an honest reaction to the question.

Sierra was quiet, fidgeting with her nails and avoiding answering as Sammie began eating her lunch finally, Mars still staring at Sierra like she had grown a second head before rolling his eyelights, beginning to get into the chip bag now that she left it on the table.

Finally she slowly sat up, pushing her hair behind her ear and rubbing at her cheeks as if it would make the blush rub away.

“...okay, yeah, I’d like to see the horses,” She mumbled.

“Great!” Sammie giggled. “Maybe Delilah will even let us groom one or two, go for a ride, maybe?”

“I couldn’t possibly ask her to trust me with that-”

“Nonsense! You were perfectly capable in those videos you showed me, she won’t mind one bit when she knows I trust you!”

-

Sierra sighed as she continued to stare at the ceiling, it was easily almost midnight and she still hadn’t fallen asleep after work. It wasn’t really anything specific, but she was wide awake and not tired. Mars didn’t have nearly the same problem, sleeping away contently under the blankets, curled up on her chest.

She really didn’t want to bother him, but she was doomed to staring at the ceiling, doing nothing. Sierra needed to do something or she’d feel like shit the next day, even if she didn’t get sleep, if she got something done, she’d feel better even being tired throughout the day. Slowly, she sat up, gently moving Mars to her warm pillow, the Coral grumbling faintly before settling down again.

Sierra moved gently to the ground, pulling her laptop from under her bed, curious and bored. After talking with Sammie about her rescue Honey Bo, she was getting more curious about the rescues that weren’t also shops. Sammie had said she’d worked at the shop rescues, and while they had more access to veterinary help and other higher end resources, the people were stretched thin with all the cases they got.

They also got more funding, but that wasn’t the point. The point of her looking into the rescues was the actual cases that happened that she didn’t know about. Sierra hadn’t heard much about breeders, or abuse cases, other than in passing that the rescues existed for such. Now she was curious, and with nothing better to do other than toss and turn in bed, she needed to look into it while she was thinking about it.

...where does she even start with a search like that? She didn’t want to search for something that might bring her to a website she shouldn’t be endorsing with her activity on it, but it was going to be hit or miss with every search she did.

Sierra sighed and finally typed in ‘bittybones rescue organizations’, and...the results did not disappoint. There were easily five big ones that popped up right away, and each website was designed properly, and seemed to have legitimate rescue pictures and updates of the ones they had been working with. She went back to the first result, that thankfully wasn’t marked as an advertised website, and decided to look through it properly.

She avoided the actual tab with the rescues listed out for adoption, because she couldn’t afford that on her heart right now, knowing she couldn’t adopt one. Mars was enough for her, and after losing her little Corny, her own poor soul might shrivel up trying to take care of a bitty who needed more help than she was qualified to offer.

Instead, she went to the tab about rehabilitation training, just to get an idea on what they went through and why. It wasn’t much, giving basic topics of how to handle touch-shy or hostile bitties, to even soothing soul aches, whatever they were. She quickly moved on to the more informational tabs, covering the basic topic of bittybones, and the people who created the two main types, regular bitties and their lamia counterparts.

Sierra had learned enough about that, so she’d scrollen past it to the topic she hadn’t seen before, labeled ‘soul bonds’. It was brief, and linked to a more in-depth explanation, but just the summary paragraph had her glancing towards Mars, up on her bed, snoozing away. It said bitties automatically formed a soul bond with their owner, and it kept their own soul alive. She hadn’t ever felt something like that, but it didn’t say anything about her being able to anyways. Just the fact that bitties were highly aware of it themself.

Sierra didn’t want to think about what her little Coral had felt from her those first few weeks, so she was quick to move on, deciding to leave the page with a blush when it mentioned how some bitties were comfortable with more intimate relationships with their owner. She was fine not looking at what that had to offer right now, thanks.

Instead she moved on, finding a website specifically targeted towards BAA, for some reason. She clicked on it anyways, curious and wanting to see what it was about, and she stared in horror at the first picture that popped up. So much for a warning, or a filter, because her stomach immediately twisted seeing the lamia with a gaping hole in its skull, obviously infected.

‘From the BAA lab trash’ the subtitle read, and Sierra had to take a minute to not feel like she might throw up, shakily risking it as she scrolled down the forum-like page. There weren’t anymore gruesome pictures, but there were topics of things she didn’t want to know about, and some turned safer.

‘BAA takes deformed bitty from vet without owner’s consent’

‘BAA recalls all Edgy bitties in their stores’

‘BAA euthanizes returned bitties’

‘BAA involvement in illegal bitty fights’

‘BAA involvement in laboratory testing of bitties’

‘BAA-’

“Whatcha lookin’ at?” Mars mumbled from the bed, making Sierra jump and glance up, noticing he’d already slithered over to the edge of the mattress to peek over her shoulder.

She watched the Coral’s expression sour before she could answer, and he glanced at her sharply before huffing and turning around to go back to the pillow.

“Mars…”

“Don’ fuckin’ care, fuck off,” Mars snipped, coiling up on the pillow, hissing when she reached over and scooped him up anyways.

“Relax, Mars, I’m just reading,” She sighed, pushing her laptop further towards her knees and setting him properly on her lap, gently petting over his coils.

“Yer still stuck on that fuckin’ Corny yer parents used me to replace,” He huffed, turning his back to the computer.

“...I’m just reading up on rescue stuff, Sammie got me curious earlier,” She mumbled weakly.

“Last I heard, the BAA ain’ a fuckin’ rescue.”

“No, but lots of rescues have problems with them,” Sierra sighed, clicking off the page. “And yes, it bothers me that the Corny I was going to get was...taken because he was a returned bitty, but…”

Mars shot her a glare when she trailed off into silence, “Uh huh, you don’t have a but, cause you still wish you had him instead of me.”

Sierra clicked her teeth together when she shut her mouth, brows furrowing as she frowned faintly, “...even if I do wish I had him, it doesn’t make me wish I didn’t have you,” She replied softly.

“Bullshit, ya’d prefer a Corny over a shitty Coral anyday-”

“Your species has nothing to do with it-”

“Sure it does! I bite, I call ya a bitch, a throw fits, and all the while I expect ya ta feed me, pet me, get me what I want!” Mars ranted. “Cornies don’t wan’ fer shit! Don’ expect shit! They get fed and held and they’re happy to sleep and do nothing the rest of the time!”

“I didn’t like my Corny just because he was a Corny,” Sierra sighed after he finished ranting.

“Liar,” Mars spat, crossing his arms and turning away from her hand when she tried to pet him again.

Sierra didn’t respond, gently petting over his coils and then softly brushing a finger over his skull, “I never disliked you because you were a Coral,” She hummed. “Just like I didn’t like my Corny because he was a Corny, it was because he was sweet, and I felt bad over his situation...you two aren’t that different, you know?”

“Cause we both got stuck with ownerships that are a shit match for us?” Mars snapped.

Sierra winced slightly, sighing softly, “If you think that...then sure, that’s one thing...but you also are sweet when you wanna be,” She started, earning a snort at her attempt. “You both were put into a situation you didn’t want to be in...I can’t imagine how it feels to think you’re a replacement for someone else, especially when...my parents specifically got you for that purpose.”

Mars grunted, glaring but pressing into her hand when she paused the petting, and she smiled faintly.

“Now that I’ve started paying attention more, you both were eager for touch,” She hummed.

“So what, I’m just the perfect replacement for your shit Corny now?” Mars huffed.

“No...I’m trying to say I’m sorry for ignoring you and refusing to acknowledge that you were upset too those first few weeks,” She explained. “And I’m...just as happy that I still have you as I would be if I’d been able to keep my Corny.”

Mars’ face turned a bright red, and suddenly he was tugging his hood over his skull and face, “Fuckin’ bitch, you’re lyin’,” He mumbled weakly.

Sierra shrugged slightly, “Sorry to hear you think that...but how about we get back to bed, yeah?”

Mars huffed, “...fine,” He mumbled, whining faintly when Sierra had to stop petting him to put away the laptop, before a few minutes later he was happily coiled up against her neck now, taking her warmth.

He wasn’t sure what to feel, knowing how mumbly and weird Sierra got with talking late at night...but her soul had been in pain talking about the Corny. He knew she still missed whatever shitty blue snake the lamia had been...but she’d also been truthful about caring for him. Mars was sure she probably wouldn’t think the talk had been real come morning, if she even addressed it, but he was content enough with what he knew now.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sierra visits the ranch, and gets a tour! Mars doesn't seem as interested, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: mentions of bitty injury/missing limbs, shipment of live pets
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!! I'm prolonging the wait ;)

“It’s very pretty out here,” Sierra commented softly, watching the farms pass by, along with cows and horses and even some sheep and goats

“Yeah! Lots of open space and friendly people,” Sammie agreed, Brutus grunting at a particular rough spot of the dirt road, but the Edgy didn’t wake.

Mars seemed curious of the new landscape as well, having barely napped the entire ride. They’d already been driving a few hours, and Sammie said they were close, so the Coral had yet to fall back asleep.

“Are there a lot of places this open?” Mars asked curiously. “I thought everything was just buildings and roads, with grass and trees here and there...not the other way around.”

Sierra hummed, “Some places are like this, it just depends on where you go to see them,” She explained. “We live near the city, everything gets crowded in places like that.”

Mars nodded, relaxing again and shifting into Sierra’s light touches over his body, purring faintly.

“Are you sure it was okay to leave your bitties alone for the weekend?” Sierra asked, turning towards Sammie.

“I swear- yes, kiddo, all three will be perfectly fine. My place is completely bitty accessible. Lemon and Nova know where everything is made for their food, and Monarch is going to be just fine without me,” Sammie chuckled, amused by the fifth time she’d asked the question.

Sierra nodded again, turning her attention back out the window as they pulled down yet another dirt road. Only now, there was a house at the end of it. Or, more so there was one large house, and several smaller ones along the road as well. Her attention, however, was focused on all the horses and cows in the pastures, Mars seemingly caught up staring at them as well.

“Wow,” Sierra commented. “She has...a lot of animals.”

“Well, they’re not hers, out there anyways, most of them are drop offs for either vet visits, or to have a midpoint break for traveling between two places.”

“That’s still a lot of animals to take care of.”

“Yeah, but she has a lot of volunteers and employees on hand.”

Sammie pulled up beside a truck parked in the grass in front of the large, old fashioned house. Stepping out, Sierra could already smell all the animals, and it was nostalgic. It’d been forever since she’d been able to go to the barn she used to ride at, for the very same reason she had to find an available weekend to go with Sammie to her sister’s. It was just  _ so  _ far away from the city.

But now she was out in the country, and it was therapeutic already. Some of the horses were nickering, it was quiet otherwise, and there just wasn’t anyone or anything around other than for animals and themselves. At least, until she heard someone call from the house.

When she looked over, it wasn’t a surprise to see the secondary redhead approaching, what was a surprise was seeing how similar the two looked in everything but clothing.

“...are you twins?” Sierra asked, Mars glancing between the two just as quickly, startled that two humans could look exactly alike.

“Oh! Yeah, did I forget to tell you that?” Sammie asked, grinning over. “Sierra! This is my twin sister, Delilah. Delilah, this is Sierra.”

Delilah smiled as Sierra walked over, a little unsure but smiling in greeting.

“It’s nice to meet you kiddo! Sammie’s talked a lot about you,” The second redhead chuckled, offering a hand, which Sierra shook to be polite.

“I...admittedly haven’t heard much about you past the ranch,” Sierra mumbled, cheeks flushing a faint pink.

“That’s expected of my sister,” Delilah laughed. “I’ll take your stuff in while Sammie shows you around, yeah?”

“Sounds good!” Sammie smiled, waving Sierra along to follow behind her.

It was quiet, other than for animals, as they walked down one of the down-trodden dirt paths beside the animal pens. Some curious goats were nosing their heads through the fences, or standing up to try and get closer, but otherwise they were left alone.

“So...what exactly does your sister do again?” Sierra asked hesitantly.

“Oh right! Delilah works as a rural big animal vet, so she goes to people’s farms to check on their animals unless they need more constant watching, in which case they stay at her ranch,” Sammie began to explain, leading her down an offshoot path that seemed to be headed towards the barn. “She also works with rehabilitation and rescues! And of course, because she has the pastures available, sometimes big animals being transported between farms might be dropped off here and then picked up.”

Sierra nodded as she listened, looking over the classic red barn with a small smile as the redhead pulled open the door so they could get in. It smelled musty, and she immediately nearly got whacked in the face with a much larger head.

Mars was left hissing, recoiling back into her scarf as the horse snorted in her face, seemingly unbothered by the lamia.

“Don’t mind Rocky, he just wants to lick you and get rubbed,” Sammie commented as Sierra slipped away from the large horse in the stall, walking after her.

“He’s very...friendly then?” The brunette asked, watching as two more horses poked their heads out curiously.

“Oh yeah! Delilah and I’s mother raised him, basically with our big hounds dogs, so he acts more like one of them than a horse.”

Sierra hummed to show she was listening, watching as Sammie pulled open one of the stall doors, “Come here! She’s got baby pigs right now in here.”

The teen picked up her pace to slip into the stall with Sammie, the iron half door clicking into place as she put the pallet back against it so none could slip under and out. Mars was poking out of the scarf again, watching as Sierra kneeled down, watching the large pig lying on her side as the piglets were nursing.

“She also does rescues for bitties and lamias,” Sammie commented after a few moments of silence, Sierra glancing towards her.

“Really? On a ranch? They’re not wandering around outside, right?”

“No, of course not! There’s a house specifically set up for them if you want to go see? Maybe go riding after lunch?”

“Sure,” Sierra nodded, watching as Sammie unblocked the stall door again and let her out, replacing the wood palette and leading her back out of the barn.

Sierra pet Rocky’s nose when he reached out to try and lick her again, but kept walking to keep up with Sammie. Mars had been quiet, uncomfortable out of his depth in a new place, but was curious all the same. Sierra let him be, knowing he’d come around eventually to being comfortable with the ranch.

The walk back was just as quiet at the walk to the barn, and the ranch house was still just as impressive as before. Only now Sierra was glancing at the other houses now, barely catching onto what Sammie was saying about other workers that did the fields for Delilah and the feeding for the most part. She nearly ran into the redhead when she stopped suddenly, realizing that she’d stopped at the door to a smaller house.

“Here we are!” Sammie proudly exclaimed.

“They call this place the Bitty Box,” Brutus snorted from Sammie’s shoulder. “Cause it’s an ugly box of a house.”

Now that Sierra had it pointed it out to her, she had to take a step back to check over the house with Mars as Sammie unlocked it. It was indeed, an awful cube looking place without any real definition to it. She didn’t want to imagine the water that would sit on top of the flat roof.

“Alright! Come on in!” Sammie waved Sierra along, the teen hopping up the steps into the house.

It was...not necessarily a tight fit, but it certainly wasn’t spacious on the inside. But her heart squeezed uncomfortably seeing all the small bitties in little plastic enclosures along the walls, even though they had a way to get down, most of them seemed to hardly bother even looking over.

“Delilah has a lot of sick little guys on her hands, as well as clutches from lamias that come left and right, or illegally bred bittybones,” Sammie explained. “You can say hi to any of them! We’ll go to the room with the more testy guys in a minute if you want to look around.”

Sierra nodded, thoughts all over the place about the bitties all over the walls, but slowly beginning to walk around, looking. Just about every bitty type she’d known of, and thensome, were in the little plastic rooms. Some of them had curtains drawn over the plastic front so she couldn’t see in, and Sammie explained something about it being so they had a sense of control over their privacy if Delilah didn’t have to check in on them.

“I thought you said she had lamias too?” Sierra asked quietly, seeing as several bitties were sleeping.

“She does, they’re in another room,” The older woman replied, smiling and watching Sierra pet a few of the sweeter bittybones that loved the attention she was giving them.

There were several bitties that her heart hurt seeing, the ones with injuries that wouldn’t be healing properly, even some with missing fingers or limbs. Being able to give them the attention they were asking for helped a little, though, knowing she was making their day a little better.

Soon she’d seen all the bitties she could, which wasn’t many to begin with, considering for the amount of enclosures there weren’t near as many filled as it seemed.

“So this next room is where the lamias stay!” Sammie happily announced, leading her to another room much like the first, but it was more like ramps and climbing things along the walls for cats, along with the enclosures.

“It’s a lot more open,” Sierra commented softly.

“The lamias have to stretch out over more space than regular bitties,” The redhead explained, Sierra nodding in understanding.

“Where does she get this many?” Mars piped up now, having been silent the entire time, watching.

“Delilah accepts anonymous drop offs,” The older woman started. “She also accepts anonymous packages. Don’t even get me started on the morality or ethics of people who think shipping their bitties is okay, but it means she gets more bitties than most away from people who’d just let them starve or die in the wild.”

Mars winced and nodded as he shrank back into Sierra’s scarf, the short haired brunette frowning at the information but not commenting. She wandered around like before, petting a few lamias who asked before Sammie was once more leading her off with a flourish.

“Now, the best part- lamia babies!”

“...don’t most lamias prefer to hide their eggs and babies?”

“Well, yes, but Delilah also comes in to check on them regularly, and she has a Papython that helps!” Sammie explained, opening the door to a more open room, where there were pens set up with blankets and other bedding put down for the lamias

“Hello!” An albino Papython commented as it slithered out and over from one of the pens.

“Hey there Pearly!” Sammie greeted, kissing the snake on the skull, Sierra smiling faintly as a pale orange blush lit up his cheeks as he adjusted his glasses. “I’m here visiting with a friend who works with me! This is Sierra.”

Sierra smiled and waved faintly, “Hi,” She greeted softly, earning an enthusiastic wave in return from the Papython.

“Hello! Are you both here to just walk around or is she taking a baby home?” Pearl asked curiously.

“We’re just checking in, letting Sierra see the place,” Sammie explained, the Papython nodding and adjusting his glasses again.

“Oh, okay! Well, do you want to come see the most recently hatched babies?” Papython asked now, perking up with a grin.

“Of course! What clutch is it?”

“Pygmy and Mamba!”

“Oh, interesting.”

Sierra followed along quietly, Mars seeming to perk up curiously at the mention of the eggs hatching and going to see the babies. They stopped outside the pen, keeping their distance for the sake of the two parent lamia, but the babies were already exploring the area they were given in the pen. There were three, surprisingly, and seemed to be two Mambas and a Pygmy.

She noticed the two larger, adult lamias coiled in their little nest, watching the triplets closely but relaxedly as they snuggled.

“Hey,” Sammie hummed softly. “Delilah just texted, lunch is ready if you want to head out?”

Sierra hesitated before nodding, “Yeah, we can head out,” She hummed.

“Thank you for coming in and saying hello!” Pearl called as they waved and left.

Lunch was a quiet affair as far as Mars and Sierra were involved, Delilah and Sammie driving the conversation, while some of the workers popped in for a minute to grab some food before they’d be right back out the door. The brunette was content just to listen to the two sisters chat away, Mars coiled up in her lap, one hand supporting him being pressed against her abdomen as the other brushed along his coils in smooth strokes that had him purring happily.

“So! Sierra.”

She nearly jumped out of her skin hearing her name, but settled down easily, “Yeah?”

“Delilah and I are gonna clean up the kitchen! Do you want me to show you your room so you can get changed for riding?”

“Oh, I can help…”

“Nonsense!” Delilah waved her hand. “We got it! You and your little Coral should have some private time to relax before you go out for something exciting, anyways.”

Sierra hesitated before nodding, “Um...yes, please, then,” She replied softly, standing when Sammie did and thanking Delilah for the food again.

She followed her friend quietly, still holding Mars but closer to her chest now, the Coral mumbling tiredly but not reacting much otherwise.

“Here we are!” Sammie smiled, opening a door to a room, Sierra’s bag sitting on the end of the bed. “Just come back down when you want to go riding, alright? We should be done with dishes in about fifteen minutes!”

Sierra nodded, “Okay, thanks.”

“Anytime! Oh! Also, I wanted to tell you, tomorrow I have a surprise for you!”

“...Sammie, please don’t tell me it’s one of the horses to ride at more visits, I’ll kick you if it is-”

“No, no! Delilah shot that idea down anyways,” Sammie waved off the accusation with a grin. “It’s a surprise, silly! Just get relaxed and changed and we can go riding in a bit, yeah?”

“...yeah, okay.”

“Great!”


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corny has more energy than ever before, and Sierra has the start of a hit list, it seems, when she stops crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoy the semi late chapter!! It's still Monday!! It's just 9pm for me!!
> 
> But I learned today that I am officially a graduated senior from high school!!! NO MORE SCHOOL!!!! (For till college)

Corny was anxious to say the least. Even when he tried napping, it was barely for fifteen minutes, and the other bitties and lamias had taken notice. It’d been going on for the entire day, since he’d barely caught the sound of Sammie’s car pulling up outside.

He couldn’t check the windows, Delilah had said it was to be a surprise for Sierra to see him again. What really upset him was knowing she was on the property, within no more than maybe a few meters, and she was clueless to it. But he wasn’t, he was agonizingly aware of the fact she was nearby and he couldn’t see her.

Corny knew all he had to be was patient, and he was! Patient, that is, just not in this case, because his soul was once more aching for the connection to no longer be strained. Just that one week she’d carried him around the shop, he’d been hoping there was a proper chance of him being adopted before he was dust. Whether that be from the BAA euthanizing him, or his own soul giving out before they could, he hadn’t cared at the time. The only thing that’d mattered was that she wasn’t like...his original owner. She tried to involve him, would touch and pet him, giving him chicken nuggets every other day. She was nice, and even if he hadn’t wanted to be hers, his soul had already latched onto that weak string like a lifeline to have someone who  _ truly  _ cared for him.

But Sammie ruined it. Corny didn’t care what her excuses were about the BAA coming early for him, about how Chad had sent them over when they went to the wrong store. Supposedly Sierra had called in that she’d be late, Sammie had told him that she’d woken up late and her sister had delayed that further by not switching over the laundry the night before, so her uniform was still wet.

Then! Sammie couldn’t keep it to herself, oh no, the fact that Sierra had finally gotten permission to get him. But no, too late Sammie said, she’d already sent off the goons with a small jar of dust and an explanation that he’d dusted before they could euthanize him.

What good did that do exactly? Corny never got a straight answer from the redhead, and by that point he was too defeated to bother trying to wiggle one out of her or Brutus. No, by that point he’d been stashed into her bag, and then in a long ass car ride to the ranch he’d been at ever since.

_ For yours and Sierra’s safety _ , she’d said,  _ it’s only until they stop looking for you _ , she said. Well then what was the point of the dust? Why did she fake him dying, tell the BAA one thing, and Sierra another? Why leave him to shrivel up and suffer a slower, more painful death of the fresh bond being stretched thin?

Corny hated Sammy, he did, and he didn’t care for her sister either, but Delilah had only taken care of him, kept him healthy with her other bitties. Now, though...maybe he’d forgive Sammie for making him wait so long, maybe, just possibly he could.

If she didn’t lie to him again and was simply keeping Sierra just out of reach to torture him. At this point, he wouldn’t put it past her for all the lying she seemed to do for her own idea of ‘the greater good’ and their ‘safety’.

-

Sierra made her way downstairs quietly, stretching out her shoulders with a faint smile on her face. The downstairs already smelled like eggs and greasy bacon, and she could hear Sammie, Delilah and maybe one other person talking, before the front door opened and closed. Third person obviously gone, she hesitantly stepped into the decently sized kitchen.

“Morning there kiddo!” Sammie greeted with a wide smile.

“Morning,” She greeted back softly, walking around the kitchen bar that separated it from the dining room.

“Mars isn’t with you?”

Sierra shook her head, “He wanted to sleep in, said if we’re getting a free weekend he’s going to decide what he does with his time off.”

Sammie barked a laugh, “As if he evers works?” She replied amusedly. “Are you hungry? We’ve got eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, toast, hash browns…”

Sierra blinked at her, quietly hesitant and thinking for a moment before she cleared her throat, “Um...just some eggs and bacon, please,” She replied after a moment.

“Coming right up! Do you want coffee or something else to drink?”

“Coffee’s fine…”

“Do you do creamer or no?”

“Just a small amount.”

“Alright!”

Soon enough she was seated across from Sammie at the table like the night before, sipping at the still potent coffee in her cup, but not complaining. Tasting more of the coffee was better than it being flooded with creamer, because whatever Delilah had for creamer had a strange aftertaste to it.

“So!” Sammie started, smiling. “You look up the stuff on the BAA like I told you to?”

Sierra nodded, sighing softly, “Didn’t find much other than articles on court cases…”

“Exactly,” The redhead hummed. “There’s next to nothing about them out there, isn’t that strange?”

Sierra blinked at her, quiet for a moment before slowly nodding, “Yeah...now that you point it out...if it’s such a big organization that’s funded by so many...there’s not much information about what they do…”

Sammie nodded, “What little information there is about them is the court cases, the articles, no official website or information. Everything we know about them is from word of mouth,” She explained. “Unless you talk to the rescues and true bitty shops, they’re the ones who get the information the BAA doesn’t want public.”

Sierra hummed softly, nodding as she listened, “So...what do the rescues know that most don’t?” She asked curiously.

Sammie smiled and leaned back in her chair, shrugging lightly, “You’d have to join one to find out, kiddo, we’re not allowed to talk about it so the rescue we work for doesn’t get in legal trouble if the wrong people find out.”

Sierra almost felt insulted by her lack of trust. Almost. She simply nodded in understanding. She’d never worked with a rescue, or at a proper bitty center, just the pet store.

“Why do you work for the pet store if you’re rehab qualified?” She asked now.

Sammie giggled, “Because nobody else fucking is, might as well be the only one who cares about the bitties and other animals, as crappy as the managers before me were, and how crappy Chad is, there’s worse people who could be in charge of the shops. It’s better I’m there than someone underqualified, and it gives me a chance to keep an eye on whatever the BAA tries to get away with involving the two shops.”

Sierra blinked at the swearing, mouth slightly agape, “...well then.”

Delilah laughed now, “Yeah, she has a potty mouth when she wants to,” She snickered, smacking away the hand trying to pinch her. “Regardless, I think it’s time Sammie shows you around the house before she shows you her surprise!”

Oh, Sierra had forgotten about the mention of a surprise for her...she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. A gift randomly just because she decided to take a weekend off and hangout with Sammie?

“I really don’t need a surprise…” Sierra mumbled softly.

“Nonsense! You do, whether you know it or not!”

Sierra slowly nodded, “Okay,” She gave up, shrugging as she stood with Sammie, putting her dishes in the sink.

She walked with her around the first floor quietly, listening to the redhead chat away about their parents, the ranch, Delilah and her getting into the rescue initially and things like that. She asked questions here and there, as they paused in the library for a minute, Sierra curious over the large amount of books the twin had.

It felt like Sammie was just trying to waste time before something, likely the surprise, but Sierra still felt uncomfortable thinking about that factor. She didn’t need a gift, and with Sammie’s behavior, she was suspicious on what exactly it was.

Stars, she hoped it wasn’t a lamia or a bitty, with Mars just recently starting to warm up to her properly, she wasn’t sure she could handle that kind of curveball. Sierra wasn’t sure if Mars could handle that kind of curveball, considering since the very beginning she knew her parents had put that niggling idea that he was simply a replacement for Corny. His insults towards her had almost always been about that fact, and she didn’t want them to arise again after he’d been so good at not hissing up a storm of swears and insults.

“So! We’re going to head upstairs for your surprise!”

She snapped out of her thoughts, browed raised as Sammie stood and grinned at her.

“You didn’t hear the past five minutes of talking, huh?”

“...nope.”

“That’s fine! I was rambling anyways,” Sammie sighed, smiling still and leading her for upstairs. “So! First stop is the lamia and bitty room! These guys are Delilah’s personal pets, and some of the workers’ on the farms pets as well! Usually she just ends up adopting the small guys she can’t trust to effectively adjust to a new home after rehab! She’s also had a few lamias who’ve bred and didn’t want to give up their babies, so while there are a few wild ones on the property, they’re wild of their own accord!”

Sierra nodded as she listened, sighing softly, “Please tell me the surprise is not a lamia, because Mars will hate me again if-”

“Please just give me five seconds, okay?”

“...okay.”

Sammie grinned and flung open the door, waving Sierra in, despite the brunette teen being unnerved by the almost manic energy the redhead was practically exuding at this point. Whatever she had for a surprise she must be real happy and excited to give to her, but what it was seemed out of reach mentally.

She stepped inside and took a quick glance around the room, first spotting Delilah, standing suspiciously right in the center of the room. Her gaze then dropped to her hands, and-

Her heart felt like it leaped into her throat when she spotted the small Corny in her hands, the lamia practically vibrating in Delilah’s hands, little blue tears already streaking down his cheeks.

_ I’m going to scream _ , was her first thought, as her hands cupped over her mouth, the waterworks already starting for her as well, then she got the second thought, realizing her friend was behind the fact he was gone for four months now.

_ I’m going to kill Sammie. _


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited reunification, and the expected(or perhaps unexpected) results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: mild self deprecating thoughts
> 
> Thank you all for reading and commenting!! Your comments help so much for me to keep wanting to write!!
> 
> As a special little bit, because of perfect timing, I drew our favorite little Corny for the book reaching 100 kudos!!!  
> (Sorry mobile users, I know it kinda messes with the page when an image is inserted ;v;)

Sierra wasn’t sure how long she was sitting on the floor for after taking Corny from Delilah. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. The only thing that mattered at the moment was the fact that her sweet, poor little Corny was still alive. He wasn’t dead, and she still wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be relieved that Sammie had somehow kept him alive, or utterly pissed about the fact she hadn’t told her shit about it.

Corny was just as worse for wear reaction wise. The small lamia had been crying before she even got into the room just from hearing her voice. The return of the soul bond was a relief, after months of making do with snuggling in piles against other lamias and bitties. It didn’t compare to having the warm feeling in his owl soul, the relief and feeling of safety it provided to him. He knew Sierra couldn’t feel it the same way he did, but the happy, relieved thrum of her own soul soothed him.

She hadn’t forgotten him, or lost interest like his first owner. She was different, she really did care and the reminder of that after so long with a strained bond over the distance left him crying harder. The Corny clung to her chest the minute he was picked up, not wanting there to be any more distance between them whatsoever, overwhelmed with happiness.

It took them a long while to calm down enough for Sierra to even consider pulling her Corny away, the small whine he gave hurt her heart, but she had to check over him. He seemed content so long as she was touching him, and she was still crying and giggling faintly from the shock of it all.

Her little Corny was definitely underweight for his type. Just touching along his scales she could feel the ridge of his spine defined, and holding him was much different from holding Mars with his chubbier weight. But he was alive, and just as happy to see her as she was to see him it seemed.

Sierra heard the door click shut behind them, and with Corny relaxing further into her touch, she assumed Sammie and Delilah had stepped out.

“Sammie told me the BAA had taken you,” She barely got out, brushing her thumb along her Corny’s temple, which he leaned into with a weak purr.

“She said they were coming early,” The small lamia mumbled in return. “Something about them going to the wrong store...and then she was hiding me in her bag...Brutus said later that she told them I had dusted.”

“But she could’ve just given you to me when I got to the shop…”

He shrugged, pressing into the hand curled around him to pet along his back, comforted just by the constant touch and warmth she gave by holding him.

“She brought me here that night...and said she did it to keep you safe, and keep me safe...she never brought you to visit or told me how you were doing…” He whined, clinging to her hand now and wrapping around her wrist. “All she’d say was ‘just a little longer’ until she’d give me to you...but she lied, just like while I was at the shop- it was  _ weeks _ and she just kept lying-”

Sierra’s heart felt pinched when he started crying again, gently petting along his back with her fingers, holding him close to her chest again, tearing up herself as well.

“She was an ass for doing that,” Sierra mumbled in return. “She told me she had a surprise for me- I wish I had known you were alive, I would’ve come to see you sooner…”

“You’re not leaving me here, are you?”

Sierra hated the waver in his voice, how he tightened around her hand like he was afraid she was going to set him aside and leave then and there. She couldn’t even think of the possibility of leaving him at Delilah’s any longer. There wasn’t a chance Sammie would be cruel enough to let them see each other and then not let her take him, right? It’d be a new all time low for the red head if she did.

“No, no, I’m not leaving you here, you’re coming home with me. I don’t care what Sammie or Delilah says about it.”

The little Corny sniffled and then nuzzled into her fingers, sobbing again but going loose in his hold on her again. Sierra knew at that point it was from relief, and she felt just as relieved as well. He was alive, not dust in some facility because of the BAA, but all it did was cause more questions and a growing need to give Sammie a bloody nose to spawn in her thoughts.

“W-what happened when you found out I was gone?” Corny asked softly, looking up at her with wavering eyelights and small tears on the rim of his sockets.

Now she was quiet, petting along his smooth scales and his spine. She really needed to get him a shirt and jacket when she got back home, like the ones she got for Mars-

Shit, what was Mars going to think about her bringing Corny home with them?

“Well, Sammie gave me that weekend off because I was upset,” She started softly. “I was upset...for awhile. Finally my parents got tired of me being sad you were gone, and...they got me a Coral in hopes he’d replace you. His name is Mars.”

Corny blinked up at her with wide sockets before his eye lights dimmed slightly, “Oh,” He replied quietly. “So...Mars is your lamia now...is he nice?”

Sierra hesitated for a moment, deciding it’d be best not to touch down on how the two of them had interacted the first few weeks. She didn’t like lingering on it, now that she and Mars were getting along well and he was happy as far as she could tell.

“Yeah, he’s nice,” She replied after a moment. “But he’d never be able to replace you. He’s just my sweet little Coral, and you’re my sweet little Corny, and I’m bringing you home with me no matter what.”

He purred a little louder, nuzzling into her hand once more, “That’s...good, that at least you had him…”

Sierra furrowed her brows, not certain how to take that response, “What do you mean?”

The Corny looked up at her, tears slowly drying now as he wiped the tracks off his cheeks, “That you had a lamia to keep you company…” He glanced away. “Even if he was...supposed to replace me.”

Sierra smiled softly, gently rubbing under his jaw with the pad of her finger, watching his sockets shut as he pressed into the touch with a faint blue glow to his cheeks.

“He never replaced you,” Sierra reiterated gently. “Even Mars knows that. Nothing could ever replace you.”

Corny hummed to show he was listening, “...where is he?” He asked curiously, blinking his sockets back open to look up at her.

Sierra wasn’t sure how to approach the new concern she had over that particular question. Mars was a Coral, and even well established ones didn’t take well to new introductions all that much. He’d only just started getting properly comfortable around her and she wasn’t so sure what’d happen if that stability of being her lamia was brought into question.

Even more worrisome would be if he did lash out at her Corny. He was so much more prone to biting her than any Coral she’d heard of, much more similar to his regular bitty counterparts in that regard. It was simply a miracle he had enough control to simply give her dry bites, or she would’ve been spending a good bit of money each month in anti venom.

“You didn’t leave him at home, did you?” Her Corny asked now, frowning at how quiet she’d been for so long.

“Oh, no, I couldn’t do that to him,” She chuckled lightly. “My sister got a Pygmy when I got him, he’d lose his mind if he had to be left along there.”

He nodded, bumping his head against her finger when she stopped, making her smile softly. He acted so different from what she remembered. During that week she’d carried him around in the shop, the small lamia had been quiet and unresponsive to touch, simply accepting whatever he was given in terms of affection.

Sierra was both happy and concerned over how he was seeking out the affection and touches. On one hand, it meant he was comfortable with her, and wanted her to keep holding and petting him. On the other, however, it meant he was just as neglected of the contact as he had been in the shop, locked away in the back room.

“So where is he then?” Corny tried again.

“Sleeping still,” She smiled. “You two are very alike in that regard. Sleepy little snakes.”

He blushed a brighter blue, half hiding his face against her fingers where he had his arms wrapped around them.

“When will I get to go home with you?”

Sierra smiled a little wider, still so, so happy he was going to be with her again, permanently this time. She wasn’t going to let Sammie tell her no, or Delilah, or anyone. Her parents could suck it for all she cared, if they even bothered to make a comment in the first place. They only paid for Mars’ adoption, and since then she’d been the one to feed him and get him the clothes he now wore constantly.

“This evening when Sammie heads back to the city,” She hummed, about to comment again when a knock at the door sounded.

Her smile fell slightly, turning in place to see if it was Sammie or Delilah, and expectedly, Sammie poked her head in after cracking open the door.

“Hey, Mars woke up and had breakfast,” She explained, gently setting the Coral on the ground, who looked at her questioningly first before his gaze turned to Sierra.

“Okay,” Sierra replied shortly, the redhead smiling sheepishly before shutting the door.

Mars was still staring, less at her and more at the blue little lamia in her hands. He looked towards her finally, cautious and uncomfortable as he slowly slithered over when Sierra offered her hand on the ground.

“Good morning, Mars,” She greeted easily.

“...morning,” Mars mumbled, climbing up her arm rather than coiling around her wrist like the Corny she was holding. “...you adopting a rescue or somethin?” He asked, voice slow and quiet from where his head was, upper body pressed against her neck, still eyeing the Corny.

The Corny watched Mars back, gaze more curious as his tongue flicked out, Mars flicking his tongue back before his look morphed into a grumpy scowl.

“Um...this little guy isn’t a rescue, technically,” Sierra started after clearing her throat. “Mars...this is the Corny I told you about, and, uh...Corny, this is Mars.”

She used her free hand to pet along the coil that tightened minutely around her neck, Mars having tensed faintly and constricted lightly around her.

“I thought ya said the BAA took him?” Mars asked, tone strained and volume low.

“That’s what Sammie told me...but she took him before they could,” She slowly explained, rubbing his snake half softly. “He’s going to be coming home with us this evening…”

Mars tightened a little more, pressing his upper half against her neck more, the Corny glancing between the two of them. Sierra couldn’t see Mars’ expression, but she assumed it wasn’t terribly friendly from how Corny shrank against her hand slightly.

“Mars,” She addressed him gently. “It’s going to be fine. Nothing is going to change with my Corny being back, okay? Can you loosen back up a little bit?”

Mars reluctantly loosened slightly, not having meant to make her uncomfortable or concerned of him tightening too much. He didn’t like this. This was bad. Why did Sammie have to shit all over his life like this? Why didn’t Brutus tell him shit about this, he was her bitty!

His soul ached faintly at the fact Sierra was so happy, despite her always gentle concern for him. Or maybe it was for both of them, or just the stupid Corny trying to act like he didn’t exist while simultaneously trying to merge with her hand, not meeting his gaze. This little fucker was going to uproot his life, the space left open in Sierra’s life that the Corny had left behind after being ‘euthanized’ no longer available to Mars. He knew that, even if Sierra didn’t. His usefulness and company would become nothing to her soon enough.

Mars shrugged, crossing his arms and turning away, ignoring the slight sting of tears in his sockets, “Whatever,” He mumbled.

Mars knew he was going to be the returned one now, because why keep him when she didn’t need to replace the Corny anymore? He knew it had been a long time coming if there was even a chance of her getting the little blue shit back.

He just wasn’t as prepared as he thought he was for the pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now here's the fun part!! I can't figure out a name for Sierra's Corny :,D
> 
> Please help me decide on one!! Because I can't decide if a certain name is too much or not ;v;
> 
> 1) Jay  
> 2) Iris  
> 3) Neptune (space themed??)


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A uncomfortable car ride. Some yelling. A name. Did you expect anything else?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this chapter because it kicked my ass while writing it >:P
> 
> CW: mentions of euthanizing, stealing, stalking, blackmail, and breeding mills

Sierra could feel the awkward tension between her two lamias now. In a silent car, going down silent roads with no city or outside noises. Sammie had barely turned on the radio to fill the silence, upon realizing that Sierra had no interest in speaking to her for the moment at least. So it stayed quiet, and she stayed tucked into her seat, having gone as far to keep her bag between her feet so when she got dropped off she could hop out and leave with minimal contact.

Was she going a bit far to get away from her friend? Probably. Did she care at this point if she was seeming rude? Not really. She was bitter, the fact that the redhead had known how badly she wanted to take her Corny home, and then that was taken from her a day early. Sammie lied to her, telling her he was dead and not saying anything else? How she’d taken him before the BAA even got there, just saying it was for their own safety? What kind of bull shit was that?

The only good thing that came of the visit at this point had been riding horses, and even better, getting her little Corny back. But even that had its drawbacks.

He was small like Mars, but that was normal. She remembered him being small, even compared to the regular Cornies, but now that she had a comparison to another small lamia...he was really small. Corals and Cornies could both easily be three feet long as their full size types, which is what her two little guys were, but...they could practically be considered minis.

Sierra had thought Mars had been smaller than her Corny originally when she got him, but now she knew it was the other way around. Mars was thick in the tail, although not as rounded as when Sammie pointed out he was gaining some chub. The fact he was only about four inches shorter than two feet didn’t help.

But her Corny...he was maybe a little over a foot long, and was most certainly underweight, more than he had been at the shop. He obviously hadn’t been eating well for once reason or another, and she assumed it wasn’t because of something on Delilah’s part with how healthy her own lamias and bitties had been, but more likely caused by stress.

He’d been stressed in the shop after being dropped off by his previous owner, from what she knew about the previous teen and his situation at the time. No jokes, or puns, avoiding sleep and he’d been reluctant to seek out touch on his own without it being initiated by someone first.

Now, though, if she stopped petting him for more than five seconds, he would be squirming to be pressed up against her hand bumping and nuzzling her fingers with his skull. Not that she minded at all, but it really made her wonder just how badly he’d been touch starved in that room to seek it out now. Maybe it was just because it was her? She doubted it, but nevertheless it concerned her.

Thankfully he seemed comfortable enough being in her lap, curled up in an extra scarf she had brought along. Not only that, but it seemed so long as she continued petting him, he was content to nap. She was focused on watching him, petting over the ridge of his tail where his spine was defined, the main sign he was underweight and needed to eat more whenever she got him home.

She’d spoil him, Sierra could determine that much about her plan. He’d get back to full health soon, once she could get a better idea on how he was doing.

Mars on the other hand was concerning her. He was silent, and usually he didn’t stay completely still while he was napping, tucked away into the scarf that was resting around her shoulders. She was used to the weight on her chest of him coiled inside it, and she was petting him gently, but he hadn’t adjusted his position or said anything since they’d gotten into the car.

Even before then, he had been grumpy and gave short answers, eyeballing her Corny but not making comments like she was worried he would. That fact he wasn’t acting like she thought he would concerned her more than the fact he seemed to be behaving. Even her attempts to wiggle her fingers under the fold of the scarf to pet his skull didn’t earn any nips or huffing and puffing, just him curling away from the touch until she stopped, not wanting to upset him further.

She knew her little Coral had to be upset she suddenly had her Corny back; the one he thought she wouldn’t ever see again, because he was the replacement. They’d have to talk when they got home, about how things were not going to change other than Corny coming back into her life and making things better than they had been. Sierra would be honest, even with her love for her little Mars, her Corny was a relief to have back, to see he was alive and...somewhat healthy. Healthy enough to not be an immediate concern on if he’d make it the next week, because he certainly was aware and lucid enough to not be starving for certain.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I got him out before the BAA came,” Sammie suddenly spoke up.

Sierra glanced towards her, Corny also blinking awake, his skull turning to stare at her with small, sharp eyelights, tongue flicking in the air in warning that he was watching and listening, waiting.

“What do you know about how exactly I got him out?”

“...the BAA went to the wrong store, Chad called and told you,” She started quietly, not really wanting to hear whatever excuses Sammie made. “You took him and put the Corny in your bag, lied to the BAA about him dusting.”

Sammie nodded, “That is the general gist of it,” She sighed softly, seeming to think for a moment before opening her mouth to start talking again.

“Why didn't you just call me and say they were coming so I could pressure my parents into saying yes?”

“You called saying you’d be late, and they were already on their way to pick him up, I couldn’t let you leave with him if they thought he was alive, and then they were suspicious of the fact I said he dusted only when they got there! I couldn’t do shit until now because it was unsafe!”

“How is it unsafe when they’re not a mob or a gang, Sammie?! What were they going to do, mug me for a Corny?! Is that really what you thought would happen?!”

“No!” Sammie replied sharply, the both of them falling silent for a moment. The redhead took a deep breath. “But they’d go through illegal channels to make your life a living hell because of a mistake _I_ made, okay? The people behind the BAA are not people who play by the law, they want money, they want fast, easy and simple cash flow. It gets complicated to them when people get their hands on BAA bitties that are supposed to be euthanized.”

“Why does it get complicated?” Sierra asked, lips pursed and face red in anger. “What’s so complicated about having a bitty that was supposed to be euthanized but found a good home instead?”

Sammie looked just about ready to scream, but she was much more composed, better at keeping her own frustration from leading to more screaming between the two. Brutus was rumbling unhappily at the volume, and both of the lamias had startled into looking between the two, not necessarily frightened, but worried about a possible fight between the two from the argument.

“They had people stalking us!” Sammie finally bit out. “They didn’t believe me when I said he dusted! They’re so paranoid about people finding out what goes on behind the scenes that loose ends aren’t allowed! A BAA bitty that can’t make it to a rescue is given back to them because they like control! Okay?! You haven’t seen what goes on in those shitty facilities they have!”

“And you have?” Sierra retorted.

“Yes!” Sammie exclaimed. “The entire fucking facility is a backyard breeder! A lamia and bitty equivalent to a puppy mill! Only it’s not just fucking puppies and kitten in shitty conditions, it’s sentient animals! They’re disgusting and nobody wants to face them down properly because they bring in enough money to buy all of the inspectors off and get themselves nothing but more sponsors and money from private and government investors because they ‘regulate’ their bitties!”

Sierra went quiet, a soft whine escaping her Corny, who she immediately covered with her hand protectively, thumb brushing over his skull softly.

“They wanted the Corny, but whether they were going to euthanize him or not is something I do not know for certain,” Sammie began again as she sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair. “They stalked us for nearly three months to see if I gave you the Corny or handed it off to someone else. Just some goons that work for the BAA because they don’t have an actual office in the city, just the two shitty little shops! You’d think they wouldn’t care about a bitty or two being adopted out when they want it back, but oh no, they’ve gotten people black balled from work and fired for things they haven’t done, all because they’ve worked with rescues that screwed over the BAA or helped rehome a bitty that would’ve been euthanized by them otherwise.”

Sierra looked down at her Corny, who was curled up against her abdomen now to be pressed up close to her. She didn’t know what to say to that, shivering at the thought that someone had been watching where she went for nearly three months. All for her little blue lamia, all because of one shitty teenager handing him over because she couldn’t handle a lazy, pun-loving snake.

“That’s why I waited so long to give you the Corny, Sierra,” Sammie addressed her softly now. “I know you’re upset, and I admit, there were probably other ways I could have made it go smoother in the long run, but I did what I did in the heat of the moment. Then the people started stalking us, and I couldn’t bring you there sooner. I would have, but I absolutely could not risk your safety trying to give you the Corny.”

Sierra stayed quiet, not replying because how the fuck was she supposed to? This was a mess in and of itself and not only did she now have to worry about people trying to take her Corny, but she still didn’t have a clue on what she was going to tell her parents. It certainly wasn’t going to go super, but there was no way in hell she was going to return Mars or let them do anything to her Corny. She’d feed them both, take care of them, and keep them out of sight like her parents preferred. Besides, she was at work nearly all the time now, same as them.

“So...have you given him a name yet?” Sammie asked, trying to change the subject.

Sierra glanced towards her, confused for a moment.

“Your Corny,” Sammie specified.

Her cheeks warmed. She knew something was missing, but she couldn’t exactly tell what she hadn’t done. Now it clicked, and she could see her Corny staring up with wide eyelights, hopeful and curious as well as to what she was going to say.

“Not exactly…”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I...have an idea for a name, just...haven’t gotten around to actually seeing if he’d like it,” She replied sheepishly, gently scratching the underside of her little Corny’s jaw, watching him press into the touch with a quiet purr.

“Yeah, what name?”

Sierra blushed darker, “Neptune...because he’s blue? And Mars was named because he’s red...and he didn’t like me trying to name him after a Coral. Trying to name my Corny after a type of corn would be stupid…”

“I like it,” The small blue lamia spoke finally, although it was much quieter than he had been at the ranch, a blush spreading across his cheek bones.

“Seems it’s settled, then,” Sammie giggled. “You’ve got a little Corny named Neptune now, kiddo. Now you just gotta get the into speech ready for your parents.”

“Don’t remind me…” Sierra said, resting her head on the window.

It was going to be a long ride home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would it be wise to put a finished chapter number on the book or is it a little early?? I kind of have it planned to end round 45-50 chapters but I also don't have it planned out very well in the first place ^v^'


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sierra is home! Mars won't talk! Neptune has a heart attack despite not having a heart, and Brea needs to learn to knock!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm an awful author as you can tell, considering I didn't update Friday! I have no excuse other than failing miserably at attempting to get this chapter done.
> 
> But! At least I have a timeline set up now, because I completely forget that time passes in the story and I need to keep track of what month they're in right now!! Next chapter should make a comment as to why that's important if anyone doesn't remember. It puts a bit of a dent in my plans, but hey, I can work with it.
> 
> Anyways!!! I hope you enjoy the chapter!!

Sierra wasn’t as irritated with Sammie by the time she got back home. She wasn’t exactly on the best terms again, not quite yet, but she didn’t blame the red head nearly as much as she had upon seeing Neptune. It stung, that her supposed friend had kept him a secret from her, but after the explanation she was...not as wounded. Did she completely believe her story about the BAA stalking them?

...no, not really.

Regardless, Sierra knew if she wanted to keep her job from turning into a nightmare, or getting fired and then have her mom on her ass about being fired from the first place she’d ever worked, she’d have to forgive her sooner or later. Better sooner than later, anyways.

When she’d gotten out of the car, after wrestling her bag out the door, because really it was a little too big for a weekend trip, she was surprised to see there was only her little Volkswagen in the driveway. She had to double check the time again to make sure she had it right, and yes, her parents were supposed to have been home an hour before then.

The cars could have been in the garage, but her parents so frequently worked that she was sure it wasn’t the case. Brea might be home, but she wasn’t nearly as worried about the younger teen as she unlocked the door and slipped inside. It was quiet, at least, so if she was home as well she was upstairs, keeping to her own room. That was good, because Sierra needed a moment of her own peace with her two little lamias.

“Are either of you hungry?” She asked gently, slipping off her shoes to be against the wall like the other pairs. Two to each person, because if there was more her mom would throw a fit.

Mars didn’t reply, having tucked himself back into her scarf sometime after she and Sammie had fallen back into silence after their...talk. Yeah, that sounded better than an argument, which it technically could’ve been with all the yelling. Neptune obviously hadn’t appreciated the volume when they were done, because he’d tightened up into a ball against her abdomen with the scarf tugged over everything but his skull while she’d been petting him.

Now, however, she had him resting in her hand, still bundled in the scarf, and held against her lower torso still. She hadn’t wanted to drop him, but she also didn’t want to try making him and Mars be closer than they were ready for. So, she’d opted to juggle her bag out of the car with Neptune in hand, before finally she’d gotten the bag on one shoulder and waved Sammie off.

Little eyelights were poking out of the scarf now, curious and hopeful as she heard his stomach growl, and felt it against her hand.

“I guess that’s a yes from you, Neptune?” She asked amusedly, bringing him to the table, setting her bag down in one chair and setting him up with the scarf on the table.

The Corny had sat up when she had, tongue flicking and looking around curiously after he mumbled a hesitant agreement.

“We don’t have chicken nuggets right now- but we have chicken fries?” Sierra hummed, going to the fridge and pulling open the freezer drawer.

Neptune’s eyelights seemed to brighten at the thought of chicken in general, “...what’re chicken fries?”

“Just...chicken nuggets in a different shape, basically,” Sierra shrugged, showing him one as she put four on a plate and popped them into the microwave.

Neptune blushed faintly, his stomach rumbling once more at the thought of chicken nuggets. He hoped Sierra would get him the good ones again, eventually. Being out in the countryside for almost three full months meant there was no fast food, and no treats of special nuggets, just the frozen microwaved ones when Delilah thought to give him one here and there accompanying his raw meals.

When Sierra brought the plate over he was practically wiggling in excitement, whining when she stopped him from grabbing one right away when she set it down.

“You’re going to burn yourself,” She hummed warningly. “And I’m going to get you some ketchup, just give me a minute.”

Neptune’s eyelights went wide, “Really?” He asked.

Neptune could barely remember the last time he’d had ketchup...before he’d been adopted the first time? Maybe. He was flicking his tongue, watching Sierra go back to the fridge, having to ignore the magic practically pooling in his mouth just at the thought of getting to eat the condiment. He might cry, he wasn’t quite sure yet with everything seeming too good to be true.

“You okay?” Sierra asked gently when she sat at the table with them after giving him a good amount of ketchup on the plate.

Neptune blinked at her, flinching slightly when he felt a tear slip down his cheek. A bright blush lit up his cheeks as he wiped his sockets of any lingering tears. He simply nodded, stomach growling once more when he flicked his tongue and could practically taste the chicken fries just from smelling them

Mars still had refused to peek out of the scarf around Sierra’s neck, and it was slowly making her worry. Even her quiet question on if he wanted mustard had gone unanswered the two times she had gone to the fridge. She knew he’d gotten funny about eating the condiment more than once a day since Sammie pointed out he was a little round, something that somewhat displeased her, but she couldn’t argue that he was just a smidge overweight.

Now she was gently petting him, letting Neptune enjoy his meal while Mars continued to pout, out of sight and obviously unhappy. Sierra left him be for the moment, however, knowing that trying to coax or force the Coral into talking with her would just result in lashing out and would inflict a wound to their shaky bond. She had hoped he’d at least gotten a little confident over the months in her wanting him, not planning on getting rid of him, ever, but...apparently she was wrong.

Neptune was done with his food quickly, but seemed content with what he was given, as he turned down her offer to give him more chicken. However, he did not turn down the extra ketchup she offered, and she was certain he would have gorged himself on it if he could hold the bottle by himself. She’d have to get some ketchup packets like she had for Mars.

“Ready to go upstairs?” She asked gently, waiting for his nod before scooping up the lamia and scarf in one go, turning off the lights as she headed upstairs.

It was still dead silent, but the light to her sister’s room was on, shining from the crack at the bottom of the door. She could only hope that Brea would mind her business and stay in her room, although she knew it was only a matter of time before the younger teen busted in to ask about how riding went.

Regardless, she shut her bedroom door, walking to her bed to gently set Neptune on the bed in the scarf, and then gently removing the second one from around her neck to put Mars on the bed as well. She purposefully undercovered his skull, earning a glare and harsh nip when she dared to pet along his jaw with a finger.

“I’m hopping in the shower really really quick, and then I’ll be out here again and we’re all going to talk, okay?”

Mars snatched away from her touch, hissing and curling back up, pulling the scarf over him once more to be tucked out of her sight. The fact he was so upset made her sigh, but she left him be, standing back up and smiling at Neptune as she pet over his skull now. The blue lamia eagerly leaned into her touch with a faint purr, clinging to her fingers when she reminded him she needed to be gone for a minute, but she’d be back and she wasn’t even properly leaving the room.

It left the two lamias alone once the door clicked shut. Mars hadn’t uncovered himself and sure as hell didn’t plan to.

He knew Sierra was happy with the Corny-  _ Neptune- _ being back, but she had yet to see how he felt about it. Mars knew she was only doing it now because Neptune most likely seemed concerned, because of course she had to have  _ two _ defective lamias. Oh no, she couldn’t be the kind of person who had a defective one with a stable one, it just wasn’t possible.

Stupid, blue, little shit was taking up all of her focus, because he was  _ broken  _ is what he was. He was scrawny, even smaller than Mars, and fuck, who was ever smaller than him except maybe the baby or mini lamias? No one! THat was the whole point! Not to mention, he hadn’t heard a single pun, or joke or anything from the blue fucker. What little he did say sounded like weak whispers or squeaks, and it grated inside his skull to hear it.

When he felt the bed shift, he was suddenly quick to toss off the scarf and sit up with a low hiss, although the Corny hadn’t moved closer to him at all. If anything, he was moving further away by going to peak over the edge of the bed. A small burn of sadistic satisfaction lit up in his soul seeing Neptune flinch.

“Are you trying to fall off the bed like a dumbass?” Mars remarked sharply, watching the blue snake hunch in on himself slightly, white eyelights flickering to the floor again.

“...not fall, just get down?” Neptune offered up weakly in response, looking back to Mars as if expecting a response as to what was the safest way.

Mars snorted, flicking his tongue out, watching the blue lamia do the same, but less bold, less challenging, because he was weak and obviously didn’t realize the trouble he’d caused. No, of course he wouldn’t, he had his life turning into heaven now probably. Didn’t matter that Mars’ was about to go to shit.

Mars was about to snap again when the door to the bathroom opened, his mouth clicking shut as he crossed his arms and looked away, huffing irritably. No, he wasn’t pouting, absolutely not.

“Good to see you again, Mars,” Sierra commented lightly, turning off the light behind her and walking over.

“Can I look around your room?” Neptune asked softly.

She smiled and nodded, gently helping the Corny off of her bed when he held his arms out to be picked up. When she joined Mars on the bed, she kept him from hiding in the scarf again. Sierra was maybe being a little inconsiderate of Mars wanting to hide away and mope until his upset grew into proper anger, but she didn’t want him lashing out at Neptune.

The teen wished Sammie had been a little better at telling her how to deal with Coral behavior when it came to their...lack of self esteem and self worth when it wasn’t properly built up. Or had at least told her that her Corny was coming back so she could prep Mars for the second lamia. But no, she got to deal with an upset Mars on her own, and after a month of him verbally berating her, she felt she could at least try and get ahead of it by being more direct with what she knew was going to happen.

“Mars,” She started, watching as the Coral glared at her, but hey, at least he was making eye contact, that was a start. “Do you think I’m going to return you to the store?”

Immediately his cheekbones bloomed with a red blush, and his eyelights shrunk and darkened, grin twisting into an angry sneer.

“So fucking what if I do? You got yer little shit of a blue fucking Corny back, why do you need a Coral, huh? You’re just too soft to admit it!”

“Mars-!”

A sharp shriek had her attention snapping to the door when it flew open, heart jumping into her throat thinking that Neptune had gotten hit by it. No, no, Neptune wasn’t by the door anymore, instead he was tightly wrapped around her ankle, where he was originally she didn’t know, but thankfully he wasn’t hurt.

“What did I say about knocking from now on!” Sierra snapped, reaching down to pull her Corny off and bring him to her chest, the small snake clinging to her with sharp, quick breaths.

Had he been by the door when it opened, or was he just that skittish now?

“I’m sorry! Usually Mars doesn’t go around your room!” Brea remarked back, hands on her hips. “But that wasn’t Mars on the ground! What- is that a Corny?”

Neptune curled tightly around her wrist, trying to hide under the warm covering of the palm of her hand, but he wasn’t quite that small to accomplish it.

“So what if it is?”

“Mom isn’t going to be happy, you know! You didn’t ask for a second lamia, and you could’ve just told them any Corny would’ve worked instead of the Coral!”

“Mom isn’t the one paying for them, now get out!”

“Why are you so defensive?! I’m just asking-!”

“Out! Now!”

Brea glared, red in the face already before she slammed the door shut, Mars hissing lowly as Neptune shivered against her quietly. She shushed him softly, rubbing his back with her thumb until he began to calm down.

“It’s okay, that was just my dumb little sister,” Sierra sighed softly.

“What are your parents going to think of you having a second snake without asking?” Mars sneered now.

“Like I told Brea, it isn’t their business. They aren’t paying for either of you,” Sierra huffed, thankful Mars was at least receptive to her petting now, as much as he acted like he wasn’t leaning into it.

“Uh huh, if that’s what you say,” Mars huffed.

“Am I going to get you in trouble?” Neptune asked now, wide, worried eyelights looking up at her.

  
“No, you won’t be getting me into any trouble. I’ll deal with whatever gets brought up, but neither of you are going  _ anywhere _ .”


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sierra lets her parents realize Neptune exists. Shouting match at 6 in the morning? Sounds _great_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's update is a bit of a doozy, and probably my least favorite chapter to write so far?? I feel like I need to get a chapter focused more on Neptune or Mars soon, been a little Sierra focused recently.
> 
> Today!! We have!! Awesome surprise!!!!!!!!!! FANART!!!!!  
> I had a small moment of dying (from excitement) when I saw it being streamed!!!!! TvT
> 
> !!!!![CLICK HERE](https://twitter.com/doom_poet/status/1253824024616022018)!!!!!  
> Go show TDoomPoet some love because their art is amazing and they spent a lot of time drawing this!!!
> 
> I'm _ecstatic_ they drew something based on my story!!!! I never imagined having a work inspired by mine, or fanart, and now both!!! Exist!!! And I am incapable of words to express my excitement!!! ;W;
> 
> Anywho!!!! As always!! I hope you enjoy the chapter!!

Sierra wasn’t sure she wanted to dare leave her room, despite the time. Her parents wouldn’t be awake yet, of course, considering it was four in the morning. Her dad would be up around five thirty, but if she went down and made noise...there was the possibility of him getting him up and checking on what she was doing. But she was hungry, and it seemed Neptune was too, as much as he tried to play it off like he was still asleep.

The rumbles from his stomach were comically loud for such a tiny thing, and despite how he was curled up in a coil, he was still tucked against her neck. Each growl made him wince and tighten up slightly, like he expected to wake her up and get in trouble. It made her heart ache, thinking she’d scare the wits out of him if she did show she was awake. Whatever his previous owner had done, it still stuck to his soul like a leech it seemed, more than just weakening his want to voice his needs.

Sierra was careful, shifting just slightly as if she was just waking up, feeling Neptune freeze until she brushed her hand over his coils. Thankfully he loosened up when she started softly brushing her fingers over the smooth magic scales, always more sleek than regular snakes could be.

“Did I wake you up?” Neptune asked softly, nuzzling into her fingers when she brushed them over his skull.

“No,” Sierra hummed quietly, smiling when he began to purr, the cool body of magic pressing into the warmth of her hand. “But it sounds like you need breakfast.”

Neptune wrapped his arms around her fingers, a blue glow brightening just out of her sight, but Sierra smiled faintly nonetheless, knowing he was blushing.

“...I can wait until you go down for breakfast,” The small Corny mumbled, nuzzling his face against her skin.

Once more, the loud rumble sounded out, making Sierra giggle while Neptune whined, coiling up tighter as if to make himself seem smaller.

“We can go get breakfast now,” She reassured, gently sitting up and picking him up, holding the smaller snake against her chest.

“Why the fuck are you up already,” Mars growled from the corner of the bed, where he had once more set up a little blanket nest after refusing to go to his own.

“Breakfast,” Sierra hummed simply, pushing off the blankets and setting Neptune in her lap as she stretched her arms over her head, hearing Mars hiss faintly as he reluctantly came slithering over.

“Fine. I want sausages,” Mars demanded, eyeing the Corny with narrowed sockets and slit eyelights, flicking his tongue at him.

Neptune looked back at the Coral, flicking his tongue in return, but his gaze quickly flickered back to Sierra when she brought him to her chest. Mars was picked up in her free hand and raised to her shoulder, where he quickly coiled around her neck, pressing up as high as he could to be as far from Neptune as possible.

Sierra ignored how Mars was acting, tired despite being awake and not planning to get back in bed yet. She was quiet, opening her door and turning on her phone light to make her way downstairs. Her dad wasn’t awake yet, and she knew her mom really wouldn’t be awake yet unless she accidentally woke them, which would lead to her mom being pissed, so she wasn’t going to do that if she could avoid it.

She was thankful Mars wasn’t having a fit about being up early, even seeming to snuggle close to her neck as he dozed to catch up on sleep he was missing by being woken up. Neptune’s stomach had also seemed to stop growling, although now he was squirming slightly, trying to look around the open kitchen, dining room and living room while she made the food.

The cabinet lights gave enough view of the rooms to not be blind in the dark anymore, but didn’t reach the hallway that led to the master. Other than the purposefully placed rugs under the couches, there hadn’t been any other carpet in sight from what Neptune had seen.

“Do you need to set me down?” He asked softly when he realized Sierra was trying to do everything with one hand, since he occupied the other.

“I’ve got it, it’ll just take me a minute,” Sierra hummed, finally wedging her nail into the press and seal of the sausage bag to pry it open, putting two patties on a plate along with three chicken fries.

Neptune watched as she pulled open the microwave and put the plate in, wincing at the soft beeps it made with each button press before it started running. He glanced behind her worriedly, still clinging to her fingers.

Sierra stopped the microwave before it could beep, Mars stirring smelling the food as he sat up and stretched his torso, tongue flicking as she brought them both to the table. Neptune was relieved it had a tablecloth, not wanting to touch the cold wood so early in the morning as he watched Mars slip down from her neck onto the table, keeping his distance.

The two were quiet as Sierra went to the fridge to grab the ketchup, Mars eagerly chowing down on the greasy sausage patties. Neptune soon joined him, although much less messy, careful to generously cover the chicken fry in the ketchup before eating it with small bites, trying to make it last longer.

Mars huffed when Sierra started petting over his body, the teen simply watching the two as they ate, not quite hungry herself yet. She knew she should probably have gotten the coffee pot running, considering her dad would be up soon, but she didn’t want to bother. Sammie wasn’t expecting her at work, and she didn’t have any plans to go anywhere, so she didn’t feel like putting effort into the day quite yet.

She only startled when Mars hissed suddenly, Neptune’s eyelights shrinking as his skull whipped around and he hunched in on himself. Sierra looked over and sighed seeing her dad walking over to the kitchen, giving her a silent wave as he got started with the coffee pot.

“What are you doing up so early?” He asked, yawning.

Now, she wasn’t terribly surprised he hadn’t paid attention to the fact she had Neptune with her. It was five in the morning, she wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a Corny and a Pygmy at that time either.

“Feeding the snakes,” Sierra replied quietly. “Mom up yet?”

“No, she’s not getting up for another thirty minutes.”

She nodded, gently stroking along Neptune’s back, letting the Corny relax on his own time to focus back on eating, despite the hesitant and nervous glances towards her dad. Mars seemed unbothered by his presence now after hissing, finishing up his sausage as she grabbed a napkin to clean his hands and face with.

At least until her dad walked over after pouring himself a cup of coffee, and Mars was right back to hissing faintly with Neptune looking up towards him with wide sockets.

“When did you get a Corny?”

“Yesterday,” Sierra replied honestly. “Sammie thought we’d be a good fit together. Her sister apparently runs a bitty rescue on her ranch.”

She watched as he nodded, sipping his coffee as he headed back to the kitchen, “Well, I can already tell you that your mom isn’t going to be terribly pleased. I’m going to head off to work.”

“Way to go, letting me deal with her blow up alone,” She remarked sarcastically, Neptune relaxing under her hand as he realized that her dad wasn’t upset or bothered.

“You’re the one who agreed to taking him home,” He called back. “Love you, see you this evening.”

“Love you too, see ya,” Sierra hummed in response, watching the door close and hearing the garage door open as he headed out.

“...your mom is gonna get mad…?” Neptune asked faintly, fiddling with a fry he’d yet to dip in the ketchup.

“Probably. It’ll be aimed at me, not you, though.”

“But because of me?”

Sierra pursed her lips, nose scrunching faintly as she contemplated how to respond without upsetting him. He was watching her now, eyelights scrutinizing her face and seeming to find something he didn’t like.

“It is because of me…”

“No, it’s because I agreed to bring you home. She doesn’t know you’re alive, and she can’t...know that you’re the exact Corny I asked to adopt,” Sierra explained quickly, gently rubbing under his chin.

“Why not? Maybe she’d be less mad,” Mars huffed. “Just say he got returned after the BAA put him in another shop or somethin.”

Sierra shook her head, “No, it’d bring up too many questions, and she likes to talk to her friends who talk to more friends. I don’t want her ranting to someone and then it getting out that I got my Corny back by luck.”

Mars huffed but nodded, slithering over to where she was sitting. Sierra offered her hand when she realized he wanted to be draped over her shoulders again, letting him find his own way up when he didn’t wait for her to move him to her shoulders.

Neptune was back to eating, thankfully, although he was much more resigned, staring at the plate and curled up on himself. He was just starting his third fry when she heard the bedroom door this time and her mom came walking out, already dressed and done with her hair and makeup, as always.

“Good morning,” Sierra hummed, gently petting over Neptune’s skull when he froze again.

“Good morning...what is that?”

Yeah, she wasn’t surprised that was the initial reaction.

“My new Corny. Sammie’s sister runs a rescue on her ranch, she thought we’d be a good fit.”

“And you said yes? Without asking?”

“Yeah,” She replied simply.

“Don’t you go ‘yeah’! Why the hell would you think it’s okay to get another animal without asking-?!”

“He’s not an animal, he’s a lamia, for one. Two, I didn’t pay for him, and neither did you,” Sierra started, turning to face her. “Three, I feed Mars already with food from my paycheck like you said I would do if I got a pet. Now that applies to Neptune, too.”

“So we got you a Coral for no reason? Having one snake isn’t enough so you decided to get a second one? If you wanted a Corny in the first place, you should have said something!”

“Well you’re the one who went out without talking to me and got the first suggestion without getting information!” Sierra snapped, gently pulling Neptune to her chest in her hand when he dropped his fry on the plate and clung to her hand.

“We could have returned it and gotten you what you wanted instead of you getting two!”

“You don’t get a lamia and then return it! How are you so daft that you don’t realize they’re more equivalent to children than pets!?”

“Their intelligence or ‘sentiency’ doesn’t have anything to do with it-!”

“It does!” She yelled, Neptune coiling tight and trying to hide in her hand against her chest, Mars giving a low hiss where he was postured beside her face, wrapped firmly around her neck. “If I returned a lamia it would be the same as adopting a child and then taking it back! Nobody fucking does that!”

“Returning an unwanted pet is not the same as adopting a child and bringing them back! They are two completely different species!”

“Mars was not unwanted!” Sierra took a deep breath, face flushed a bright pink, cheeks burning in anger. “Mars is not going anywhere, and neither is Neptune! End of story! They are my pets regardless, I pay for their clothes! I pay for their food! I take care of them! You don’t even have to deal with them because you’re at work all day, all week! So am I, and I take them with me! So why the hell does it matter that I got another one without asking you!?”

“You live under my roof! You have to follow my rules! What are you going to do when you go to college next month, huh!?”

Sierra went quiet at that, gritting her teeth, “It’s not an all day obligation. Hell, certain classes let you bring lamias with you.”

“That’s this year,” Her mom continued, “what about next year? You want to transfer to a full time college after you get your base classes done, what are you going to do then?”

“I’ll figure that out on my fucking own!” Sierra snapped. “Because at that point it isn’t your concern!”

It was tense and silent as she glared, lips pressed in a thin line.

“You’re lucky I have to get to work,” Her mom practically snarled. “We’re talking when I get home.”

“Only if dad is present,” Sierra sneered back, already feeling the adrenaline dying out and being quickly replaced with a wave of anxiety over how that shouting match is going to go.

Nothing was said past that as the silence was only interrupted by the slamming door as her mom stormed out, leaving Sierra to try and soothe Neptune and calm down herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyyy, look at that! Sierra has a spine, who knew!  
> More evil mom, as always, because there's honestly no nice things about her tbh, I have no redeeming qualities planned for her, sorry.  
> Brea and the dad are chill tho! Sometimes.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!!


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sierra takes the boys out for a sunny day, Brea is annoying too, but it goes alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for how long it took for another update!! I'm having trouble with the plans for this book and working out how long I want it to end up, and just overall not as into it as I wish I could be. With this, I can't reliably update twice a week, so the schedule will be changing to just Friday each week, in hopes of keeping up a proper schedule again after missing two(?) weeks of updates.
> 
> I hope you enjoy the chapter! Sorry again for how long it took.

“Why are we out here again?” Mars grumbled unhappily from her scarf, Neptune around her neck.

It had been a struggle to get Mars to not be huffy puffy over Neptune being close to him, but it was a struggle for Sierra to hold Neptune all the time while Mars could lounge on her shoulders. The scarf, thankfully, had been a good compromise to keep the two close but separated while she had other stuff to carry.

“It’s nice out and I wanted you two to have a day outside,” She replied.

“Why did  _ they  _ have to come?”

Sierra sighed, hearing Biibii and Brea chatting away as the younger teen walked the curb like a tightrope, skateboard in one hand, helmet in the other with her Pygmy around her neck and a water bottle backpack on her back.

“Brea wants to skate, she’s not going to be hanging out with us and being loud,” She sighed, shutting the trunk of her car, basket on her arm and blanket tucked under the other as she locked the beige vehicle.

“They’re still loud,” Mars huffed, burying himself back into the folds of her scarf.

Sierra didn’t address that, simply sighing and thankful Neptune seemed curious and eager to be outside, lounging around her shoulders and nuzzling into her warmth.

“Come on, we’re going to the field to sit,” Sierra called to Brea, watching her sister hop off the curb and come walking over as she headed down the trail.

“So what made you want to come outside? You’re a hermit,” Brea remarked casually, keeping pace with her easily.

“It’s nice out, figured Mars and Neptune would like it.”

“Mars doesn’t seem to like anything.”

Sierra didn’t have to look down to know the small movement from her Coral was him flipping the bird, leaving her to simply sigh as Neptune snickered faintly at something about the situation.

“You really need to teach Mars to be more polite.”

“Mars knows how to be polite,” Sierra replied with a faint smirk, looking towards Brea. “You just don’t know how to leave things alone.”

“Brea leaves me alone when I ask!” Biibii chirped, peeking through Brea’s hair from around her shoulders.

“That’s because you’re a spoiled baby,” Mars sneered.

“I’m not a baby!”

“You sound like one, your name too! ‘Biibii’, sounds like a real pet name.”

“I’m not some kind of dog!” Biibii snapped back.

“Really? Cause ya act like a purse pooch!”

“Mars, that’s enough,” Sierra chastised him gently, Brea’s teeth clicking as she shut her mouth from retorting in defense of her lamia.

All she heard was the sniffle as Brea picked up the pace to put distance between them, Biibii out of sight around Brea’s neck again. Sierra knew that was going to cause some problems later, but she’d handle it when it did become an actual problem.

“We’re going to stop here and just head out to sit on the field. Remember to check in with me every thirty minutes!” She called to Brea, the younger brunette just waving her hand dismissively over her shoulder as she continued on the path after dropping her skateboard to start skating.

Sierra was quiet as she headed on the smaller trail through the trees off the actual path, thankful it wasn’t too bright out, the clouds keeping the sun at bay, but the field still feeling warm with a nice breeze. Mars was seething under her hand in her scarf, and she knew that was another thing she was going to have to deal with before the end of the day.

But for now, she had a rudimentary picnic to set up to let her lamias lounge in the sun if they wanted.

She really was thankful that Mars had given in to her request to let Neptune sit on her shoulders while he took the scarf, regardless of how much of a fit he threw. With her hand free of a clingy Corny, she was able to set the basket down while she unfolded the blanket and put it down on the grass. Every movement Neptune made to watch what she was doing was felt on her neck, the little movements of his tail to adjust where his torso was giving away the fact he was dying to get down.

Finally, she set the basket on the blanket and sat down on it.

“Can you let me down onto the blanket?” Neptune asked, a small, amused smile spreading on Sierra’s face.

“Of course,” She hummed, offering her hand to the small Corny and letting him down onto the blanket after he switched his grip to be around her wrist.

Sierra gently pulled off her scarf despite Mars hissing, though was placated when he was placed in her lap, even if it meant she didn’t let him hide among its folds anymore. The Coral seemed content enough under the warmth of her hands as she began brushing her fingers along his magic, the tail having slowly lost the chubbiness he’d gained and returned to feeling like the straight up muscle of a healthy snake.

“It’s really warm out,” Neptune hummed, stretched out in the sun where the rays filtered through the trees behind them. “It’s nice.”

“When was the last time you were outside?”

“...I don’t know,” He hummed quietly, resting his skull on his arms, sockets closed in contentment. “Not being carried or in a cage? Never, probably.”

“That’s sad,” Sierra replied, rubbing under Mars’ jaw and pretending to be oblivious to how he pressed into her touch for more. “Mars and I went on a walk a few weeks ago...but I work a lot, so we don’t do it often.”

“We should do it more often, this is nice, sunbathing,” Neptune purred. “In real sunlight.”

“Well we’re not gonna, Sierra works every day all day,” Mars hissed, nipping her finger out of general irritation.

“Hey, relax, I’m going to have to cut my hours soon anyways with college starting next month.”

Mars and Neptune both stared up at her now, Neptune confused and curious while Mars’ expression slowly soured.

“What’re you going to do with us?” Mars asked. “Doubt you can take us with you to...classes ‘r whatever.”

Neptune’s curiosity turned into a sullen frown, “You can’t take us with you?”

“I don’t know that for certain,” Sierra told them, gently poking Mars’ in the chest with a finger. “Neither do you, Mister Grump, so don’t make it seem like I want to leave you two alone at any point. Besides, I have to ask Sammie about it anyways tomorrow, so it doesn’t concern me for right now.”

“Okay,” Neptune chirped, lying back down and content to leave the topic at that, although Mars hissed and bit her again.

“You always avoid talking about the stuff that comes up!”

“Not that you’re any better,” Sierra replied gently, petting over his skull again. “But I said we’ll talk about it later, right now I wanted to talk about something else. With both of you.”

Neptune cracked open a socket towards them, “So no napping?” He whined half heartedly.

“No napping,” Sierra chuckled, watching her Corny dramatically sigh as he sat up to face her properly.

“What the fuck do you want to talk about?” Mars snapped, nipping her finger again.

“What you’re thinking about Neptune being here now,” She replied easily, watching his expression go slack in surprise.

But then it was back to being a pinched, sour look as he hissed and sank his teeth into the flesh between her thumb and index finger. Sierra didn’t flinch, letting her hand stay loose even when he let go and blood began to bead up from the small teeth marks.

“And,” Sierra started again, grabbing a napkin with her free hand to hold to the bite, “What Neptune thinks about me also having you.”

Mars recoiled like he’d been hit, eyelights looking away from her now with a dark look, Neptune looking more like a deer in headlights now. The two were silent, and Sierra gave them that moment to recollect themselves, giving either of them the chance to start.

“What about what you think?” Neptune asked after a moment. “About...having us both now?”

Mars frowned deeper, arms crossed and coiled tight in Sierra’s lap, cheeks faintly lit up with red magic in an angry blush.

“I’m happy I have you both now,” Sierra replied easily, petting over Mars’ skull softly. “I’m relieved you’re alive, and very happy I now get to call you by a proper name, especially one that I gave to you. Mars is also my lamia, just like you, and even if I’ve had him longer, I care for you both.”

Neptune was blushing now as well, shyly avoiding her gaze and picking at a loose thread on the blanket, “...I’m happy too...that you had Mars,” He mumbled, the Coral snapping his head around to look at him, sockets wide. “Means you at least had someone to keep you company.”

Sierra smiled sadly, reaching over and rubbing his jaw with the pad of her index finger, the Corny eagerly pressing into her touch with a darkening blush. Mars had pressed as close to her abdomen as he could, clinging to her shirt and hiding his face.

“You...also gave another lamia a home,” Neptune continued after a minute, purring faintly as Sierra brushed her hand over his magic half. “That’s good, getting Mars out of a shop, giving him a home. And now we both get to make you happy.”

“Such a way with words,” Sierra joked despite being a little teary eyed, Neptune’s skull lighting up with the blue of his magic in a deep blush as he looked away now as well. “Mars?”

Mars hissed faintly, nipping her hand when she tried to coax him back into her lap from his defensive ball. Neptune was watching him quietly, in his own relaxed coil in the sun once more, leaning into Sierra’s hand.

“...you’re not getting rid of me?” Mars asked.

Doubts and insecurities still plagued the Coral’s skull, despite the constant reassurances from Sierra. He didn’t trust it, not when the lamia he was supposed to take the place of was back. That meant there shouldn’t be a place for him, couldn’t be. Corals weren’t ideal lamias for just anyone, and Neptune, a Corny, was a much better fit. Sierra liked taking care of them, taking care of anything small and cute.

A returned, possibly abused and broken lamia was a much better fit for her, to baby and protect, than one that just sat in a shop for a few months, stewing away over how he’d never be adopted.

“Of course not,” Sierra sighed softly, knowing to expect that kind of question, but disappointed nonetheless at the fact he didn’t feel secure. “You’re my lamia just as much as Neptune, and I fully intend on keeping you both.”

Mars was quiet, but slowly relaxed after a long minute as he slowly nodded, leaning into her hands finally as she moved him to her lap properly, thumbing the top of his skull gently.

“...you promise?” He asked finally, hiding his face into her fingers.

“I promise,” She reassured, smiling faintly and glancing up when she saw movement from Neptune again despite him not saying anything.

Mars’ gaze snapped over when Sierra moved her hand to offer it to her Corny, hissing slowly and flicking his tongue, tensing up again. Neptune hesitated but used Sierra’s hand to slither up to her lap, his own tongue flicking out slightly before he slowly moved to settle up against Mars.

Sierra almost said something, but stayed quiet and watched, her Coral tense and still hissing quietly, but not trying to shove Neptune away or lashing out. His face was bright red, bringing a small, amused smile to her own face.

Once Neptune was settled flush against Mars he stopped moving, grinning faintly towards Sierra before resting his skull on his arms again and closing his sockets. Mars was less than relaxed as he crossed his arms, ignoring Sierra’s smile, although he did flip her the bird, and reluctantly relaxed himself for a nap as well.

It was the best outcome Sierra could’ve hoped for.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neptune and Mars get teased, Sierra begins to adjust her schedule.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a shitty author who's been gone for a month with no warning! Literally cranked this chapter out last night suddenly, it's not Friday, but I haven't updated in a month and I'm sorry for that.
> 
> If you notice, the book now has a set end point of 30 chapters! These chapters are outlined and hopefully will be getting done on a more consistent schedule now that I am writing again.
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!

“We can just stay in here?” Neptune asked quietly, glancing around the Coral enclosure they were in.

“Yeah, kinda the best place to do so,” Mars shrugged, sockets closed, arms cushioning his skull from the flat rock under the heat lamp.

Neptune fidgeted with his phalanges, tail loosely coiled as he enjoyed the lamp too, blushing faintly at how Mars had set up his own tail as a loose, unspoken barrier. The other Corals were respecting their space, despite being on what would be considered their turf. They weren’t as friendly with each other as Neptune remembered other Cornies being when he originally was at the shop, but he didn’t mind it, knowing he’d be more nervous being left alone with them than Mars.

“Why couldn’t we stay with Sierra?”

Mars sighed heavily, cracking open a socket to glare at him half heartedly, “Because she has work and we’re nuisances that get in the way.”

Neptune frowned, glancing away as his shoulders hunched. Mars gave a sharp hissing sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose and lightly smacking the end of his tail against the Corny’s coils.

“Lighten up, dumbass, I’m joking,” He grumbled, glaring ahead of him now out of annoyance. “Sierra does a lot of boring stuff and being in the scarf could make us bump something or swing a lot.”

“...but we’re in an enclosure for adoptable lamias…” Neptune mumbled, slowly moving to lie down like Mars was, hesitating before slipping the end of his tail under the Coral’s, loosely curling them together.

Mars was frozen, eyeing Neptune from the corner of his socket, grin tight and tense. Neptune didn’t move to do much more than that, and he only snapped out of it seeing the smaller lamia speak, but whatever he said went right over his head.

“...what?”

Neptune blinked owlishly at him, “...won’t humans try to pick us up and ask to adopt us?”

“Nah, usually I just curse ‘em out and they fuck off,” Mars snorted, grinning cheekily as Neptune looked at him, less than impressed.

“That’s...not a way to get adopted at all,” Neptune mumbled thoughtfully.

“Exactly, see, maybe ya have something in that skull after all,” He chuckled, knowing his knuckles against Neptune’s skull, despite the Corny flinching back faintly and shooting him a look.

“How long do we have to wait here?” Neptune sighed, resting his skull on his arms and closing his eyes.

“Few hours, just till lunch, and then maybe we can stay with Sierra,” Mars hummed, eagerly copying him to get some more shut eye in. “Lotsa nap time.”

Neptune hummed faintly, already beginning to doze, the warmth of the lamp and stone deeply soothing him slowly. The store was quiet, save a few puppies yipping and birds making noise, and Mars being nearby made him feel somewhat safe. A nap would be nice, a real one, considering he’d been too worried on possibly being left alone if he fell asleep during the day so soon after being returned to Sierra.

But now...he was okay. It was all okay, even better than okay, it was great. Neptune felt great, because things were going great. It hadn’t been great for long, but...even if it didn’t last long, like before, it was nice while it did.

-

“Well ain’ you two just little love birds. Made a clutch yet?”

Mars snapped up the second the deep growl of a voice sounded up above their heads, soul racing as his skull clacked up against Bruno’s jaw, sending him back down to the rock, hands covering the now painful spot.

“Fuck off!” Mars spat, rubbing his skull and glaring up now, face red with embarrassment, realizing Neptune had wiggled his way closer in their nap and curled their tails together. “Ain’t none of that shit happening!”

“Really? Cause you’re awfully tied together right now with those tails of yours,” Bruno snorted. “Tiny seems awfully content sleeping against ya too.”

Mars’ blush spread further as it darkened, glancing down where Neptune was still in a dead sleep, arms hugging himself and tucked up against what would be considered Mars’ hip. He hissed sharply, shoving at his companion’s shoulder, rudely snapping him awake as well and sending him flailing as he forcefully writhed to get out of the grip of his tail.

“Hey fucko, get the fuck off of me!”

Neptune flinched away quickly once he got his bearings, coiling up quickly and hiding in them the moment he spotted Bruno. The older bitty was watching them with a frown and squinted sockets before he smacked Mars’ upside the back of the skull.

“Hey shit face, ya should learn ta be fuckin’ nicer to yer bud.”

“We’re not...buds,” Mars bit out, arms crossed and looking away.

Neptune didn’t comment, despite being a little stung by the statement and glancing away with a blush, rubbing at his sockets to ward away any tears. He wasn’t upset, Mars was just mean and defensive from being woken up, Neptune knew he didn’t really mean it...right? Weren’t they doing better?

“Whatever, dumbass,” Bruno sighed, rolling his eyelights and looking to the Corny. “‘eya Neptune, good ta see yer back with Sierra.”

Neptune waved meekly, glancing away from the Edgy. Bruno had been nice the few times they met, but Neptne didn’t really feel like chatting now. Not with Bruno, or Mars, maybe not even Sierra...although being held or being close to her sounded infinitely more appealing than it had earlier.

“Bet it feels nice being properly bonded now, yeah?”

Neptune slowly sunk further in the coils, blushing darker and nodding slowly, Mars glancing between the two with a sharp frown.

“They weren’t bonded before,” Mars huffed. “The fuck you mean a proper bond?”

Bruno rolled his eyelights again, sitting down on the blanket in front of the rock and lamp, “Neptune was a return, idiot, the second Sierra showed interest, his soul tried connecting, or are you completely clueless?”

Mars’ cheeks lit up once more with red magic, “I know how bonding with humans works! That’s why all the bitties and lamias sleep together because we need the close proximity to other souls, yada yada, companionship, lovey dovey bullshit because we could die without it. Improper bonds don’t exist!”

“They do when ya don’t complete them,” Bruno snapped back. “Why’da think he got so cuddly with ya? He went with an incomplete bond for almost four months, any contact for him is like giving a human in the desert water after months of the bare minimum.”

Mars frowned, glancing at Neptune, who had made a point to not look at either of them, instead picking at his phalanges, coils tight and protectively hiding himself as much as possible. He looked away again, huffing despite the small nag of guilt for lashing out...but whatever. It wasn’t like he’d get in trouble for it, and the Corny needed to learn to suck it up.

  
  
  


“Okay, so you’ll be working Tuesday and Thursday afternoons...along with weekends?”

Sierra nodded, putting a few more cans of dog and cat food out from the box they’d gotten in.

“Yeah...I also have a question.”

“Shoot,” Sammie leaned against the wall, the day having gone excruciatingly slow.

“Do you know anything about lamia and bitty regulations in colleges?”

Sammie hummed faintly, pushing a few stray hairs behind her ear in thought, “To be honest...not much? I know if you have a doctor’s note turned in to the college, they can be considered ‘prescribed emotional support’ for cases involving anxiety, or service pets for deaf and such. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure the general rule of thumb depends on the professor and varies by campus.”

Sierra nodded as she listened, sighing quietly, “Do you know any of the rules regarding the community college in the city?”

Sammie tilted her head, eyes squinted in thought for a few quiet moments before she slowly shook her head, “No...I don’t quite recall any rules on that campus. I’ve had to help people on the campus settle disputes sometimes because there were disputes over someone trying to steal a bitty, and the school ignored the fact the bitty could tell them who they belonged to. Otherwise, I haven’t really learned anything on it.”

Sierra rested her forehead on the shelf with a low groan, “I hate emailing my counselor.”

“Well, that might be the only way to get answers, kiddo,” Sammie shrugged, pushing off from the wall and patting the teen’s back as she walked past. “You’ll be fine, regardless. It isn’t the end of the world if those two lamias have to stay home alone, they can take care of themselves with some help setup for them.”

“But I hate to do that to them when I haven’t even left them at home for work before.”

“Well...ya just might have to, and if push comes to shove, there’s no problem with them staying at my place once and awhile with my bitties.”

“I’ll keep that in mind…” Sierra sighed, returning to stocking the shelves. “How have they been doing by the way?”

“Oh I can’t wait to tell you later!” Sammie practically squealed. “Monarch is doing so well! But I’ll have to tell you later, someone just came in.”

“Got it. I’ll talk to you at lunch.”


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sierra is out and Mars learns actions have consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHA, barely got this out on Friday, but I did it!!!
> 
> Mild CW: mild violence, swearing, name calling
> 
> Things will be winding down soon for the end of the book ^w^ but at the end keep an eye out for the poll I'll be posting- it will have to do with the plot of book two! Or maybe I'll post it sooner. We'll see.
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!!

“Okay...I’m going to be gone for ten minutes, got it?” Brea stated, slow and clear after making sure the three lamias were paying attention to her. “No squabbles, arguments, or whatever counts as conflict, okay?”

“Okay Brea!” Biibii chirped.

“...got it,” Neptune mumbled softly, coiled up beside Mars, the inch between them being as close as the Coral had permitted him with Sierra out of the house.

“Whatever,” Mars snuffed, flipping her the bird and earning a stern frown in response from both the teen and her own lamia.

“Ten minutes,” Brea reminded before hurrying out of her room and downstairs, having cited she needed to go to the bathroom and to get some snacks together for lunch.

Mars was already sick and tired of spending time in the teen’s room. It reeked of growing hormones, baby perfume and Biibii. Biibii always smelled sickeningly of either candy or baby powder, whatever stupid scents Brea used to bathe him making him smell just like the baby he acted like.

“So!” Biibii started, turning to the two on the makeshift pallet for them to relax on while watching tv or watching Brea play games. “What do you wanna talk about or do while Brea’s downstairs?”

“Fuckin’ sleep,” Mars hissed lowly.

“Mars…” Neptune meekly attempted to chide.

“That’s rude Mars! Brea doesn’t like swearing, and it’s a bad habit to fall into and continue! You need to learn to stop!”

“Fuckin’ make me piss baby!”

Biibii blinked and crossed his arms, chest and cheeks puffed indignantly, “Just because Sierra is gone today and Brea has to watch you two doesn’t mean you have to be so mean!”

“I’m mean when I fuckin’ wanna be,” Mars spat.

“Please stop, Mars,” Neptune tried again, eyelights flickering away from the Coral when his head snapped around towards him. “...he’s right.”

“What?”

“Biibii is right...Brea’s watching us and making sure we’re fed and entertained…”

“This isn’t fuckin’ entertainment, it’s torture.”

“...to you maybe, but we’re used to...Sierra...getting ta nap...few hours without her isn’t going to kill us…” Neptune shrugged, shrinking down further as Mars hissed and crossed his arms.

“She coulda left us in her bedroom instead and Brea coulda brought us food in there!” Mars huffed, Neptune slowly nodding in agreement.

“...maybe you can ask if Brea would take you to Sierra’s room?”

“But that’s no fun!” Biibii whined now, Mars’ slowly easing scowl renewed and twice as furious now as his attention snapped over to the Pygmy.

“So fuckin what?!” Mars snarled, lunging forward and shoving Biibii by the shoulders. “Ya think we like you?! Think we wanna be in here?! You’re a whiny brat with a spoiled owner who can’t mind her own damn business!”

Biibii squeaked when he was shoved back, face flaring up a light blue as he scowled now in return, “That was one time!” He argued, shrieking and quickly sliding out of the way when Mars lunged again.

“Still wasn’t her fuckin’ business to shove her nose into! She needs to learn to knock!”

“Brea was just joking! She knew Sierra wasn’t doing anything!” Biibii continued to argue in quick, panicked sentences, dodging Mars’ attempts to lash out or tackle the Pygmy.

“Mars!” Neptune tried placating, getting between him and Biibii, hands up in surrender. “You’re going to get in trouble.”

Mars pulled up short from slamming face first into Neptune’s skull, posturing the extra few inches he had over the Corny, “Neptune,  _ move _ .”

Neptune flinched, a bead of nervous sweat building on his skull as he seemed to hesitate, eyelight small slits of light in his sockets, “No.”

Oh, that irritated Mars to no end. “Move before I make you,” Mars spat, feeling a warm, pleased bloom at how he flinched again, despite the nagging guilt as well, so soon after startling Neptune the week before.

Neptune seemed to hesitate and rethink his choices for a longer moment at that, as Biibii slowly put more distance between him and the pair, getting closer to the open bedroom door.

“Then make me,” Neptune challenged, voice weak and shaky, not at all prepared to live up to the fact Mars was ready for a fight and Neptune was not at all a fighting nor conflict type of lamia.

Mars hissed lowly, anger beginning to win out again, only he knew he’d be in deep shit if he hurt Sierra’s other lamia. No, he wanted Biibii to learn to mind his own damn business and that he was a worthless, pitiful, baby excuse of a lamia-

He lunged past Neptune for where Biibii had moved to, out behind the Corny, the smaller, blue lamia lunging as well to get between them again.

“You fuckin-” Mars snapped, smacking out with his hand, feeling the flaring pain of bone hitting bone as Neptune crippled to the ground with a cry of pain.

Mars was frozen after realizing he hit Neptune, the idiot having gotten in the way of him going after Biibii and now-

Mars’ eyelights flickered up at the commotion Biibii was causing, the Pygmy zipping out of the room, shrieking like a bat out of hell as everything caught up to the Coral. Neptune had his hands shielding his face after sitting back up, and he barely caught sight of tears building in the Corny’s sockets and the slow appearance of bruising on his cheek before the lazy snake was gone just as fast under Brea’s bed.

He felt the thundering footsteps more than heard them, hissing and coiling up when the teen was back in the room suddenly, Biibii clinging tightly to her ankle.

“Where’s Neptune?!” She demanded.

“The fuck does it matter to you?!” Mars snapped, tensing up when she moved forward and reached down for him. “Don’t fucking touch me!”

“Too fucking bad,” Brea hissed back, ignoring how Mars bit down deep into her hand.

He was furious she didn’t even flinch at him biting her, how her hold barely tightened and she didn’t drop him or anything. Mars would’ve much preferred having that to hold over her- how she couldn’t handle a bit and dropped him on his skull because she couldn’t control her anger or something. Not this!

His tail was lashing angrily as he dug his fangs deeper, knowing better than to try and use venom- the house didn’t have any because he’d never tried it with Sierra, so they never saw the need to keep it on hand when the shop was hardly 15 minutes away.

Mars barely registered being back in Sierra’s room, only realizing it when pressure was applied to the juncture of his jaw and skull on either side. It was uncomfortable, but not painful, as it forced him to let go enough for Brea to get both hands away from him, leaving him isolated on the bed.

“You get to stay here until Sierra gets home!” Brea started, face red and voice sharp and high, probably in anger.

“Fucking make me!” Mars snapped.

“You can’t open the damn door!” Brea replied just as loudly, turning on her heel and leaving, door clicking shut behind her just as quickly.

Mars didn’t even have enough time to lunge off the bed, soul racing and marrow practically boiling in irritation. If Neptune had just stayed out of the fucking way- he spat at the door, rubbing at his sockets with the heels of his hands.

  
He was made...but he knew he’d still be in some deep shit when Sierra got home. If not for causing problems or starting a fight...then for hurting her  _ precious  _ little lamia rescue.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sierra gets home and Mars has to apologize for the elephant in the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early new chapter? Yup, because I wrote it up and feel the need to make up for the month long absence. Friday update will still be happening!
> 
> ~~Also I totally kept track of the word count in this chapter to make my entire book word count even out, lmao~~
> 
> Hope everyone enjoys!!

Neptune was quiet as he nibbled at the chicken nuggets Brea had warmed up for him. His cheek didn’t really hurt anymore, not like it had earlier when the shock had worn off and he was left with a darkening bruise. He had hidden back then, right after Mars had hit him, and he hadn’t come back out until he stopped crying.

Blessedly, Biibii and Brea had let him keep his space while he had, despite the fact it seemed the area under her bed was set up for Biibii, similar to Mars’ nest. The fact his companion had hurt him at all was still jarring, and the more he lingered on the thought, the more his sockets stung with the threat of tears, wondering what he had done to deserve getting hit.

Yes, Neptune knew Mars shouldn’t have hit him regardless...but had the Coral really been mad enough to lash out like that?

...okay, yes, he was, but Neptune knew it hadn’t been directed at him, it was for Biibii, who he had tried protecting. Was it worth it? ...maybe, maybe not. He wasn’t so clueless as to believe Mars felt good afterwards about hitting him. Neptune had seen his face right after getting hit, and the bigger lamia had looked mortified after realizing what he had done.

But did he blame him for lashing out? Not really. Did he blame himself? Yes, a little bit, because he did get in the way of an angry Coral. Neptune felt like an idiot thinking just because they were getting along fairly well that it would stop Mars from lashing out. Had they been able to just nap the majority of the day away, he wouldn’t doubt Mars would’ve been a little less...pissy. Could he guarantee that fact? No.

So he was left stewing over the situation, hours after it had already happened. Neptune couldn’t stay under Brea’s bed forever, not when she’d put work into making them snacks, even though Mars wasn’t allowed to have any in Sierra’s room after what he did. Neptune had been too tired emotionally to argue, despite the twinge of guilt over how Mars was being left out.

He didn’t want to think of how hungry he must be by now. It was late, maybe nine at night. Sierra and her mom had yet to return, but they were also only just having dinner downstairs as well. It seemed it was just a late, painful day for all involved. Neptune knew very well how much Sierra had dreaded going to the meet and greet for her college, especially when she couldn’t bring them to it.

It sucked to know they couldn’t go along with her. Sierra didn’t know yet if she could bring them to her classes, but her mom had vehemently refused to allow her to bring them regardless to the event. If anything, Neptune wanted to blame the older woman for the entire incident of the day.

He and Mars could have easily napped the entire time just in her scarf, even if it meant skipping lunch and a late dinner. Anything would’ve been preferable to having Mars get mad enough to hit him, even if by accident, even though it had been a purposefully hit meant for Biibii.

That’s what seemed to make Brea the most irritable; how Mars had targeted her Pygmy. Not the fact Neptune had gotten hurt, even on accident, but the fact Biibii had been upset over nearly being the one who got hit. It seemed she couldn’t even care about the fact she had gauze and medical tape acting as a bandaid over the bite Mars had given her.

Neptune just wanted to go to bed, but he also didn’t want to be alone with Mars, and he just wanted Sierra to be home already so everything could be easy again.

When the door finally opened, and he heard the agitating voice of their mom calling out that she and Sierra were back, he felt an indescribable amount of tension leave his shoulders. He abandoned the chicken nugget to coil at the very edge of the table, reaching out for Sierra the moment she came into sight.

She seemed just as relieved to see him, quick to walk over and scoop him up and against her chest. The thrum and warm presence of her soul relaxed him impossibly further, his coil going limp as he let her hold him there without his help, sockets closed and trying to not hear the retelling of what happened, which he knew was bound to happen.

“Where’s Mars?” Sierra asked, having been distracted bringing Neptune close, with how upset and desperate he looked to get held.

“Upstairs,” Brea replied, voice tight and bitter. “He tried hitting Biibii and ended up hitting Neptune earlier.”

Neptune couldn’t see Sierra’s expression, but the conflicted and confused pulse of emotion was hard to miss, and then the slow start of agitation made him feel small and as if he were the one in trouble. But he didn’t even know who it was aimed at!

He was reluctant to let go of her shirt when she gently pulled him away, but he did so, hugging himself and avoiding her gaze as she looked at him.

“Oh...Neptune,” Sierra sighed softly as she brushed her thumb over his skull. “What happened?”

“Mars lashed out just because he was annoyed is what happened,” Brea remarked, Neptune quiet, not wanting to talk with Brea being irritated nearby when she hadn’t even been there.

“Oh my God, Brea! Why is your hand bandaged!?”

Sierra shut her own mouth as their mom hurried over, taking the bandaged hand into her own, but not taking the gauze and tape off.

“Mars was upset and I picked him up. It’s fine, he didn’t mean it, and he doesn’t use his venom.”

“What?! He shouldn’t be biting you in the first place! Sierra! I thought you’d taught him not to bite!”

Sierra’s lips twisted into a displeased frown, Neptune being tucked against her chest again, “Mars is a Coral, he bites out of habit sometimes.”

“Mom, like I said, it’s fine,” Brea reiterated, pulling off the tape and gauze, which had a decently sized dry spot of blood on both pieces. “See? It stopped bleeding a while ago, doesn’t even hurt. His fangs are like tacs, I’ve cut myself worse with aluminum foil before.”

“I need to go check on Mars,” Sierra stated simply, heading out of the room, ignoring her mom talking after her that she needed to make Mars apologize and teach him to stop biting like she said.

Neptune had been quiet the entire time, curled into her hand and against her chest, but now she could hear quiet sniffling and feel how he was shaking faintly.

“Sierra, he didn’t mean it…” Neptune whined as she stopped outside the door. “He was tired and Biibii wouldn’t stop pestering…”

Sierra sighed, slow and deep, rubbing Neptune’s bare spine with slow strokes of her thumb, “It’s okay, Nep, I’m not upset with Mars. But he needs to apologize.”

Neptune hesitated before slowly nodding in agreement, taking a moment before moving and slipping into her scarf, which had become a permanent part of her attire since getting Mars.

Finally she opened the door after a light knock, letting Mars know she was coming in.

Of course, when she stepped in, the Coral wasn’t anywhere in sight. Sierra didn’t know if he’d be on her bed and hidden under a blanket or pillow, or maybe even under her bed within his nest. Whichever it was, she shut her door to hopefully ward off any interruptions. 

“Mars?” She called gently, sitting down on the ground. “You can come out, bud, you’re not in trouble.”

“Bullshit.”

Sierra startled slightly, turning around to see Mars peeking out over the top of one of her dresser drawers before slowly sitting up further.

Her heart ached seeing the dry, pale red tear tracks down his cheekbones, some of them smeared from him trying to wipe them away as they came. It didn’t seem like he had been crying within the past hour, though, not from what she could tell anyways. She hadn’t seen many bitties or lamias cry before.

The Coral seemed to deflate after a moment, rubbing his arms as he hugged himself, avoiding her gaze. Sierra turned around in her spot, watching him glance towards her and then her scarf, seemingly looking for something and not finding it. She would've thought he’d be able to tell Neptune was there, and maybe he did, but it seemed more like he didn’t.

“You know I wouldn’t hurt you, right bud?”

Mars shrunk in on himself slightly, hesitating before nodding slowly, “Yeah, I know.”

“I saw Neptune got hurt today...can you tell me why?”

Sierra was...a little surprised to see tears immediately build on the bottom rim of his sockets, the small lamia looking towards her hesitantly, mouth opening slightly and then clicking shut as he looked away and rubbed at his sockets, mumbling.

“What’s that?” She asked once more, keeping her voice soft.

“...I don’t want to be watched over by Brea ever again…”

“Okay...we can do something about that, Mars, but you need to tell me what happened.”

Another long moment of silence, Neptune was deathly still in the scarf, and Mars looked like he was trying to hold back more tears.

“I just...he’s so...fucking...irritating! Not...not Nep...but that stupid...fuckin Pygmy...he acts like a fuckin baby!”

Sierra listened quietly, nodding as Mars continued to rant, less about what happened, more about how much he disliked Biibii and Brea, how he’d just wanted to nap while she was gone, maybe have snacks in her room. Finally, finally he got to the point of him lashing out.

“Just...Biibii wouldn’t let us nap, and then Brea left the room for snacks...the little shit, he wanted to talk or play or something!” Mars hissed, having long since given up on keeping up with wiping away the tears. “I just...I wanted him to fuck off! Go to your room, or just get some sleep...so I went after him...Neptune tried stoppin me...he got in the way and I...hit him…”

The tears were bubbling up again, streaming down Mars’ cheek as he choked up on a sob, shrinking into himself again, “I’m sorry...I didn’ mean to...didn’ mean to bite Brea either...but she grabbed me…”

Sierra sighed softly, gently reaching out and running the pad of her finger over his skull, giving him a moment when he flinched before continuing when he leaned into her touch.

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to, Mars…”

“...I know,” He hiccuped, wrapping his arms around her fingers, letting her pick him up with both hands and drawing him out of the dresser.

Neptune slowly moved in the scarf now, peering over the edge of the fabric. It was quiet, Neptune holding out his arms, Mars taking a moment before eagerly hugging him and blabbering apologies.

Things would get better.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sierra goes shopping with the boys and has an unfortunate run in, but they have a laugh in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might try to grind out another chapter for today and post the poll for the sequel at the same time, we'll see!
> 
> Hope you enjoy! Things are winding down for now.

Neptune looked around curiously as they headed into the mall, tongue flicking at all the scents and noises. Mars was less interested, but watching with him from the scarf, acting begrudgingly acceptant of the fact their tails were wrapped around each other. It totally wasn’t Mars who did it, when they could’ve just shared the space without the sign of companionship. Nope, totally wasn’t him, Mars was just letting Neptune enjoy the contact, because he didn’t, not one bit. Nope.

What Mars did enjoy was when Sierra’s hand would come up to hold them against her chest or rub at their jaws and skulls. Neptune could see how he didn’t try to nip or act like he was just accepting the pet, no, he leaned into it heavily, sockets shut and all. If he weren’t worried about the Coral getting snippy and upset, he’d tease him about it, but the only teases he could come up with would probably leave Sierra a mess. He didn’t want that.

She already seemed tense as it was, hesitating outside of stores she’d glance into, remembering they were with her and forcing herself to continue walking. Neptune wanted to comment that they should look at all the stores, but she was really focused today. Mars seemed curious too, glancing around for what she might be there for, since they were only told they were going shopping on her first official day off with her new schedule.

Everything was new to Neptune, and he was eager to take it all in from the safety of Sierra’s scarf. Regardless of wanting to see and experience things, he didn’t like how many people there were. Too many, too close. He was thankful he and Mars were in her scarf, protected from any unwelcome hands. It also left them relatively unnoticed, although it wouldn’t be too hard to spot them against the grey knitted scarf either if someone focused hard enough.

Neptune grinned and pressed against her hand again when it raised to gently rub his skull, the check in a consistent pattern of happening every few minutes. A habit, most likely, from needing to make sure they were still there with how Mars wasn’t afraid to drop a few feet to go explore. He’d learned that from Brutus, how the Coral had escaped Sierra to try and explore against the rules, and ended up spending time in the enclosure instead.

The only thing making the day a little...unfortunate, was the itchiness to his tail. Neptune had wanted to mention it that morning, but Sierra had been racing around getting things together after a shower, he hadn’t seen her like that before. It had been fun to watch, to chat and see her being something other than quiet and anxious, or tired.

He knew Mars was feeling it too, the old magic film around their tails getting tight and dry, not quite cracking or peeling yet, but close enough that it was uncomfortable. Maybe after shopping he’d ask if Sierra would help them, maybe soak and then relax while she helped them get the sheds off.

It sounded nice, and he hoped Mars was thinking something similar, because from what Neptune had heard during his time at the shop, it should be taken as a sign of trust and was good bonding time. Nothing was better than getting a fresh shed off and feeling things like they were new. But for now, he suffered with the Coral, accepting their fates of being toted around with Sierra for...something.

“We’re almost there,” Sierra hummed quietly, hand switching to Mars and rubbing under his chin and jaw as he hummed in content.

“Almost where?” Mars sniffed, tongue flicking out and glancing up towards her face, despite how she wasn’t looking at them while talking.

“You’ll see,” She chuckled, walking across the wide hall that the stores were lining, and then Neptune spotted it.

His stomach flopped a little bit, shrinking into the scarf unsurely as they entered a little bitty store. Was she...getting another bitty? That couldn’t be it, right? She’d ask or tell them beforehand, right? Wasn’t her mom mad already that he was back and she had two lamias now?

Mars’ tail squeezed around his lightly, making Neptune glance over, Mars giving another reassuring squeeze before Neptune returned it. Slowly he relaxed. Sierra wasn’t like that, she asked for permission for everything and double checked.

“So I was thinking about a few things I should get you guys…” Sierra started quietly, pausing on an aisle with different little setups for bitties to use for themselves.

Most weren’t really made for lamias, but they could still use them, technically. The showers and baths didn’t really work because of their tails, but a lot of the shirts and pants and climbing systems for furniture still helped. Neptune gently hugged himself, rubbing his arms at the reminder, glancing towards Mars with a faint blue blush.

Mars had a red sweater and classic Edgy jacket to wear, and while Neptune wasn’t sure how long it took Sierra to get him one, he was slowly getting a little...worried he hadn’t gotten anything to wear yet. Maybe she’d get him something today? Neptune really hoped he wouldn’t have to remind her, soul clenching slightly at the possibility of her forgetting about him and the fact he was technically bare. Not that it was a bad thing, necessarily, but the comfort of clothes was nice.

Neptune remembered when he had a nice blue hoodie meant for Sansies when his first owner got him. It hadn’t lasted but for as long as he was with her, and then when he was returned he wasn’t allowed to keep it. Despite the fact he didn’t really...think or care about her anymore, it had stung at the time, letting go of what little could be considered his.

But the stores liked letting people customize the outfits of their pets, so in the end it was really the bitty or lamia owner’s choice in what they wore. Neptune was at least a little thankful it seemed like Sierra had let Mars choose his sweater and jacket.

“Oh, look at that, Neppy,” She giggled softly, slowly squatting down to pull a small, aviator like jacket off the hook.

It wasn’t a hoodie like he was used to...but it  _ was  _ blue. It looked soft, too...but a hoodie being loose and comfy on his bones was more tempting than a snug, stuffy coat. But Neptune wasn’t quite sure how to say that without upsetting her. Would she get upset he didn’t like the same thing?

“...are there any hoodies?” He finally asked, watching as she put the jacket back with a hum, wheezing out a sigh as she stood back up.

“Let’s see...like one of these?”

Neptune leaned forward eagerly when she held up two different Sansy hoodies, one being a pullover and the other being a zip up. They both looked soft and comfy, and Neptune’s soul fell knowing he needed to pick one.

“The pullover?”

She offered it to him, letting him tug it off the hanger and slip it on, hissing happily at the soft lining inside and loose nature of the fabric, relaxing into the scarf with a wide smile.

“What do you think about the other one?”

Neptune blinked, staring at the other hoodie and then glancing up towards Sierra, despite knowing she couldn’t crane her neck enough to see him.

“...I’m okay with just one hoodie!” He squeaked, cheekbones flushing blue.

“Okay...but you and Mars need an outfit or two for when the other one is dirty…” She pointed out gently. “Do you like it?”

“...yes,” Neptune reluctantly admitted, fiddling with the strings of the one he had on.

“Okay. Do you want a shirt to go with it?”

Neptune hesitated before deciding to just bite the bullet and accept whatever happened for being honest.

“...a black one maybe?”

“Alright. Mars?”

Mars leaned forward, blinking away the half sleep from his sockets, flicking his tongue at all the clothes, humming.

“Red hoodie and same black shirt,” He decided easily, slinking back into the scarf as she grabbed them.

“Great...time for little fridges and maybe a new blanket…”

Mars seemed to perk up at the mention of a blanket, Neptune looking at him curiously as the Coral grinned, “For the nest?”

“Yes, for your nest, and maybe just letting you both relax around the house when I’m doing something, if you’ll part with it long enough.”

“Hmph, sure, I’ll let ya,” Mars snickered, relaxing back to doze once more as she walked around the store, grabbing a small fridge to keep bitty foods on hand for when they were left alone.

“So you know for certain we can’t go to class with you?” Neptune asked quietly, Sierra hesitating before nodding.

“Yeah. School doesn’t permit them, unless they have a doctor’s note stating they’re an emotional support animal. Bitties don’t count for service animals yet either because of their size, so there’s really no chance of slipping you guys in.”

“Fuck them,” Mars mumbled, Neptune hissing faintly and sighing, not enjoying the fact much himself.

Sierra felt a few of the blankets before settling on one and letting the two of them feel and approve the purple and grey blanket, bringing all of the items to the cashier. Thankfully Neptune didn’t have to remove the hoodie when she tugged the tag off, and soon they were back out in the hall of the mall.

“Are we going home now?” Neptune asked softly, Sierra shaking her head.

“I want to grab another scarf or two because I only have so many to carry you guys around in and clean,” She giggled softly.

That part was an easy in and out thing, which Mars and Neptune were both thankful for. The day was wearing on already, and the noises and smells were beginning to become overwhelming. Sierra seemed to agree without even mentioning it, her pace a touch more hurried than before on the way out.

“Hey! If it isn’t our local and friendly recluse!”

Sierra swore under her breath, slowing down and glancing over with a small smile as Jenny and Beth came over.

“Hey guys,” She greeted softly.

“Hey yourself! We haven’t hung out in forever, lady! Where have you been?!” Beth laughed, shoving her shoulder gently and playfully before noticing the lamias. “No way, your mom let you get another lamia?”

Sierra hesitated, clearing her throat faintly, “Well it was kind of a surprise, my boss dropped him on me not too long ago, figured we’d be a good match.”

“She must’ve been  _ pissed! _ ” Jenny giggled. “How’d you manage to keep him? He looks like a runt.”

Sierra gritted her teeth, “He’s a rescue, and I’m the one that pays for my lamias, she doesn’t.”

“You say that now, just wait till you need to get them checked out by a vet and have to beg mom and dad to pay the bill,” Beth snickered. “They’re not even a good sub-species to waste money on! Seriously, you need to get some better taste, Sierra!”

“I think I can take care of my lamias well enough, and not have to ask for money for it, or really on my parents’ money,” She retorted, hand blocking their view of Mars and Neptune and keeping them pressed to her chest. “And there is nothing wrong with Corals or Cornies, they’re just as good as any of the others-”

“Sure, if you want lazy, boring, slobby and needy as a regular occurrence,” Jenny snorted.

Sierra frowned, cheeks warming, “They’re not any of those things. Now if you excuse me, I need to get home, and don’t you two need to get ready to leave the state for college?”

“Oh, that’s right, because we got into some of the best schools in the country while you decide to disappoint mommy and daddy going to community college! How’s it feel to be the joke of the family?”

Sierra bit her tongue, red in the face and storming off, ignoring their comments afterwards as she sped out of the building.

Neptune and Mars were silent, despite Mars hissing quietly in an upset over the comments they made, both towards him and Neptune as well as Sierra. Nothing was said until she got into her car, shutting the door a little too hard before slumping into her seat.

“That was rude of them!” Neptune piped up finally, wriggling out of Mars’ tail and the scarf to move to her shoulder. “What’s so special about their colleges? It’s all school, isn’t it?”

Sierra gently held a hand behind him, smiling faintly and kissing his skull as she breathed shakily.

“Don’t worry about it, Nep, they’re just being stuck up trust fund brats,” She sighed, rubbing his back before her hand moved to pet Mars’ skull. “I’m sorry you had to hear their comments again, Mars.”

Neptune glanced between Mars and Sierra, at a loss for what she was talking about. Had it happened before?

“Notta big deal, they’re obviously not worth it,” He huffed, nuzzling into the warmth of her palm. “Can we get home? I feel like I need to scratch my scales off, and Neptune probably feels the same itchy shit.”

Sierra nodded, letting Neptune move back to her scarf as she buckled up and started the car, “I didn’t realize you guys were due to shed soon…”

“Yeah, kinda wasn’t that important recently,” Mars hummed. “But it’s dry, tight and annoying. Plus, you can get it off easier than we can. Quicker, too.”

“Can we soak before you do though?” Neptune asked hopefully.

“Sure, I can search up what I should put in it when we get home for it to be a nice bath, and we can wash that jacket and sweater of yours during it, Mars.”

“You saying I smell?”

“I am.”

Neptune snickered into his hands as Mars sent him a mock appalled look, hand on his chest, “Hey, I bathed…”

“...never?” Neptune squeaked, laughing when Mars’ cheeks bloomed a red blush of realization, Sierra still as a statue and silent as well.

“...wow, I’m a shitty owner.”

“It isn’t like we get dirty!” Mars started, voice raised. “The most that gets dirty is our clothes and teeth from eating! We’re not so bad to get it all over us! Plus we wash our hands after eating-!”

“But!” Neptune interrupted, grinning. “We should probably start getting one every time Sierra does!”

“...you’re not coming in the shower with me.”

Neptune’s face turned blue now, eyelights shrinking as he sputtered, “No! That’s not what I meant!”

“No? What did you mean then?” Sierra teased now, Mars laughing as she parked and got out of the car.

“We get a bath when you get a shower!” Neptune tried to defend.

“Sounds like a plan.”

“But bathing with ya sounds fun!”

“Mars, no!”

“That’s inappropriate!”


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sierra gets an interesting request and we get to see more of Sammie's bitties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another late update, my bad, but there will be a second one right after this, along with the poll for the second book!! Keep an eye out for it if doesn't follow immediately after c:
> 
> We're getting so close to the end and I feel like all I'm writing is filler content but I promise the last chapter will make up for it. Maybe.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!!!

“Hey, are you available this weekend?”

Sierra raised a brow towards Sammie, petting along Mars’ smooth tail, which he’d been indirectly requesting almost every five seconds since she’d gotten their sheds off the week before.

“Uh, yeah, why?”

She didn’t necessarily feel uneasy at the wide grin that took over Sammie’s face, but her getting closer and sitting across from her at the break room table, hands clasped in a begging position.

“I have a teeny tiny request,” The redhead started again.

Sierra sighed, “Please don’t tell me it has to do with Chad again.”

“No no! I’m going to a convention this weekend and it’d be really really awesome if you could house sit for me, please?”

Her eyes narrowed slightly at that, frowning, “Um...don’t you have a rescue Honey Bo?”

“Yeah?”

“...they usually don’t appreciate strangers on a good day.”

“Monarch stays in the closet almost all the time! He only comes out when I’m not home-” Sammie clicked her mouth shut for a moment. “Okay, that doesn’t sound great, but he has a clutch of three eggs, and my other bitties can’t survive off of snacks for two full days. They can’t get full meals to Monarch either, even when using my system while I’m at work. So please, just...go there, make sure you keep an eye on the house and feed them?”

Sierra hesitated. Mars was still under her hand, having paused his own chip eating to stare, and while Neptune seemed curious, he didn’t seem upset. Mars didn’t seem upset either, but he wasn’t quite interested either.

“I don’t see why I couldn’t house sit for you...your bitties wouldn’t mind Mars and Neptune being with me, would they?”

“Not at all! So long as Monarch feels comfortable, they’ll be happy to have company.”

Sierra nodded slowly, fidgeting with the tip of Neptune’s tail, the Corny wriggling faintly at the ticklish feeling, “Um...I’ll let you know by tomorrow?”

“Great! Just give me a call during lunch if you can!”

Sierra hesitated outside the door of the house looming over her. It felt looming, anyways, despite the very pastel colors and numerous plants lining the porch as well as hanging from it. Despite knowing only bitties were home, she knocked regardless to let them know she was there before unlocking the door.

“Hello?” She called out, the house very quiet despite the TV playing in the living room.

It was quiet for a few moments longer as she slipped off her shoes, Neptune and Mars peering around at everything from her scarf. Double checking that she locked the door, it wasn’t until she was cautiously checking the kitchen did Mars hiss faintly.

Looking back to the living room, Sierra was met with two small pairs of sockets staring over the back of the couch at them. She wasn’t certain if they were waiting for her to do something, or if she was waiting for them.

“Um...hey, you two must be Lemon and Nova, right?” She greeted, smiling gently.

The more one with more yellow-orange eyelights narrowed his sockets slightly, before he peeked over the couch more, arms folded to rest his chin on them.

“Sup, ‘m Lemon,” He greeted easily now, a lazy grin spreading across his teeth.

“I’m Nova,” The shorter one started now, wiping at his sockets and moving to sit properly on the back of the couch.

Sierra knew Nova was a hybrid, but it was still intriguing to see the two types of bitties in his appearance. He had a softer face, like a Softie, but also retained the sharper teeth and reddish eyelights of his Edgy side.

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Sierra smiled more. “This is Neptune and Mars. I’m sure Sammie told you, but I’m Sierra.”

When Lemon held out his hand for a handshake, Sierra kept back from giggling as she used her pointer finger to shake it the best she could. It was just so amusing everytime a bitty did it, the size comparison strikingly obvious when she did.

“Nice ta see ya made it in one piece,” The Lil Bro snickered, sliding back down to the cushion of the couch. “Monarch is sleeping in his nest.”

Sierra nodded as she listened, “Sammie told me he most likely wouldn’t come out while I’m here,” She hummed, thinking for a moment. “It’s almost lunch time...are you guys hungry?”

Lemon seemed to grow more interested at the mention of food, Nova just nodding slowly as he dozed where he sat atop the back of the couch.

“Hell yeah, I could eat right about now,” Lemon grinned, pushing Nova lightly to make him follow the taller bitty off the couch.

Sierra stepped into the kitchen through the doorway she was next to, eyebrows raising in surprise seeing the two wandering in and going up a detailed staircase up to the counter.

“Bitty-proofing” houses wasn’t really...probable for most people. Lots of companies overpriced such things, and very few people tried to do it by hand. Sierra didn’t visit many people’s houses in the first place to know if they made everything bitty accessible, but the more she looked around, the more she saw was put up to give Nova and Lemon free roam and access to as much as possible.

It was fascinating to see, considering she’d never be able to do it herself, ever, for her own bitties. Especially since making things accessible to lamias was nigh on impossible, when some of them might as well be able to have their own house with how big they got.

“So what sounds good for lunch?” She hummed, hesitating before going to check the pantry with Mars and Neptune.

“Can you grab the almond crackers?” Lemon asked, lounging on the counter. “Sammie made tuna and egg salad to have with them for lunches. Breakfast and dinner are the only things she doesn’t pre-make for us.”

“Sure thing.”

Getting it all together was quiet and easy, Lemon very confident with making sure Sierra did as he asked in a very polite manner. The only thing that offset her was how quiet Mars was being. Neptune was quiet too, sure, but she had expected Mars to be making comments and mouthing off. But he wasn’t, despite the fact both lamia were watching her and listening to the conversation.

“You know you guys can eat with us, right?” Nova hummed around a mouthful of cracker and egg salad.

Sierra hadn’t even thought of eating yet, focused on chatting and getting them food, as well as some ready for Lemon to take to Monarch. Then she remembered that Mars and Neptune were probably too cautious and uncomfortable in a new place to ask for food as well.

A gentle touch to her scarf seemed to startle the two, “You guys hungry?” She asked gently.

It was quiet other than Lemon and Nova munching, before Neptune shifted, fiddling with the strings of this hoodie, “Yeah…”

“Then come down here and join us,” Nova snickered.

Sierra smiled and gently removed the scarf from around her neck, setting it down on the counter with two lamias on top so they didn’t touch the cold granite.

“Are you not going to eat?” Neptune asked quietly, fiddling with a cracker in his hands.

“I’m not too hungry right now,” She replied honestly, rubbing the top of his skull with the pad of her finger.

“Maybe you can see if you can get Monarch to eat,” Lemon commented.

Sierra paused after standing straight again, hesitating before pursing her lips, “Are you sure that’d be a good idea?”

Lemon shrugged, “He’s been getting better, and I think he’d like you. You’re quiet, soft spoken.”

Sierra’s cheeks flushed at that, giving a small laugh, “Nobody’s ever called me quiet before,” She replied, getting the extra plate of tuna and egg salad with the crackers together. “If you’re certain he won’t mind...I’ll go see if he’ll eat.”

Lemon nodded, waving with a wide grin, Nova watching her more curious and cautiously, as if uncertain if her going to feed Monarch actually was the smartest idea.

Sierra was mindful of the fact the closet belonged to Monarch for his comfort, the door left cracked open to allow light and easy access to come and go as the Honey Bo pleased.

“Monarch?” She asked gently. “Lemon suggested I bring you a plate for lunch, if you’d like I can leave it outside the door for you.”

She honestly wasn’t expecting a response, or even to see the Honey Bo, really. Being this close to his nest was being testy enough, in her opinion. Having a Honey Bo, much less a rescue one, when they’re so cautious in the first place made her very aware of how little she knew how to handle them.

Instead, she watched as the door slowly crept open a few more inches, a yellow-orange tongue flicking out as she saw the larger skull of the Honey Bo poke out just barely.

“I can take it…” Monarch voiced softly, free hand reaching out cautiously for it.

Sierra gave a soft smile, handing over the plate and sitting back on her heels from where she was crouched down.

“If you want something to drink I can get that as well...I’m Sierra, by the way,” She continued. “Or if you need anything else, I’m sure Lemon or Nova could tell me as well…”

Monarch eyed her silently, having retreated slightly, door shut to just a little wider than it had been originally, and now she could just see his eyelights and tongue occasionally.

“...you have lamias here?” He asked slowly, before she heard a tell tale crunch of a cracker, eyelights never leaving her.

“I do,” She smiled gently. “A Corny and a Coral, Neptune and Mars. They’re eating with Lemon and Nova.”

A soft hum was all she received in response, his eyelights disappearing for a moment, like he looked away from her for a moment before they were back.

“...can I get a cup of water?”

“Of course,” She nodded, standing back up and going to get him a glass.

It isn’t until a few hours later as she’s making dinner that she sees Monarch again, catching just a glimpse of the mottled pattern on his tail before it disappeared into the living room. She hoped Mars wouldn’t pick a fight, having told him several times that if Monarch did decide to come out, it was his house, not theirs, and there was no reason to stress the Honey Bo. Especially with the knowledge that he had a clutch of three eggs to maintain during most of the day.

When Monarch pulled himself up onto the couch, taking up a whole cushion alone where the blanket nest was, Neptune and Mars didn’t make a comment. Lemon was relaxing and Nova was chatting away, in his sleepy, mumbled way the later it got in the evening. Neptune was glad they were able to hang out with other bitties, even if Mars simply huffed and slept most of the day, with a word here and there in response.

Neptune was thankful Mars had stayed civil, even when Lemon had tried to pry at information involving their strange circumstances of ending up in Sierra’s ownership.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen other lamias.”

Mars startled awake from his half asleep state when he heard the naturally louder voice beside them, both of the lamias turning to look at Monarch.

“...that a good thing or a bad thing?” Mars asked. “Getting ta see us, that is.”

“...dunno,” The Honey Bo sighed, resting his head on his arms, coiled comfortably among the blankets. “Last time I saw a lamia was...back at the breeding mill, I guess, or maybe the brief time at the vet clinic could be considered too.” He shrugged.

Neptune winced in sympathy at the mention of the mill, glancing unsurely towards Lemon and Nova at the possibly sore topic being brought up. Neither seemed too worried, Nova even shrugging with a lazy grin.

“Sounds like that sucked then,” Mars snorted, ignoring how Neptune elbowed him.

Monarch smirked, “Guess you could say that,” He chuckled. “So, a Corny and a Coral, interesting pairing. When did she get you?”

Neptune’s cheek flushed blue, glancing away as he rubbed the back of his skull, Mars’ grin twisting into a grimace. That really wasn’t a story they cared to tell, nor did Sierra.

At least she brought dinner before they were expected to answer.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little glimpse back to Sammie's household, and some chatter between Sierra and Sammie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta love cute scenes but good lord I'm ready to stop writing little filler chapters >>
> 
> Next chapter and then we're done with the first book!!! Now with that said, I'm putting up a poll that puts into question something involving the sequel!!!
> 
> [VOTE HERE FOR "OH, ADULTING"](https://bit.ly/3dUFVVM) \- Please be sure to answer if you plan to read the sequel <3 things will be a lot more action packed in the next story(perhaps longer than the planned limit of 20 chapters depending on the winning option)
> 
> Hope you enjoy!!!

Sierra smiled as she traced the stripes along Mars’ tail, the Coral chowing down on chips and nuggets with Neptune for lunch. The days off were nice, now that she’d gotten used to them. Neptune had gotten a lot more confident in seeking out affection or asking for food, and had regained a healthy weight.

Mars thankfully had calmed down lately, and she’d been catching the two snuggling more often, or talking quietly amongst themselves when they thought she wasn’t listening. She tried not to, really, letting them have their own moments of privacy when she was in her room sometimes. Being able to spend time just playing games or watching TV felt more like a luxury now that she wasn’t spending as much time out of the house as possible.

Even better was the fact her parents had barely been home lately. Meetings galore, and some kind of accident at her father’s company. Things she didn’t care about, and wouldn’t ever care about. College wouldn’t be as much of a reprieve from the monstrous clutches of her mother, but it would get her to back off somewhat. Hopefully.

“Sierra,” Neptune mumbled around a mouthful of nug. “Your phone.”

Sierra glanced over to the screen that was lit up, the vibrating quiet and hardly there as Sammie’s name displayed at the top. Her smile faltered, unsure what the red head could be calling about, considering she rarely made calls just to chat. Regardless, she knew it’d be rude to not answer on any account, even if it was her day off.

“Hello?”

“Sierra oh my God you need to get over here-”

“What? What’s going on?”

Mars and Neptune looked towards Sierra and the phone now, eyelights sharp and both small lamias tense in their spots. Neither were eating now, silent and waiting as they glanced at each other.

“The eggs! Monarch’s eggs hatched!”

“Oh, that’s awesome,” Sierra smiled, continuing tracing Mars’ tail, giving them a gentle nod that it was fine, the two relaxing as they started eating again. “Why do I need to come over?”

“Monarch let me see them!” Sammie squealed. “They’re so cute! They look just like him, and he’d like Mars and Neptune to come see them as well!”

Her eyebrows raised, “Really? He’s okay with that?”

“Yeah! Lemon and Nova told me, and then Monarch confirmed it when he came out. One of his little hatchlings is already all over the place, taking after his daddy, it looks like.”

“Okay, uh...give me like fifteen minutes and then I’ll be over with Mars and Neptune.”

“Great! See you then!”

Sierra stared at the blank phone now, blinking a few times before looking to Mars and Neptune.

“What was that about?” Neptune hummed, taking a bite out of a nugget.

“Monarch’s eggs hatched, and he’d like you two to come see them,” She chuckled, petting his skull.

“Why does he want us to see them?” Mars frowned, slightly tense and defensive. “Honey Bos ain’t exactly buddy buddy with someone from one meeting.”

“No...but Monarch also hasn’t seen any lamias other than you two since he was rescued,” Sierra reminded him. “So eat quickly while I get ready!”

  
  
  


Sierra couldn’t even knock before the door was being flung open, Sammie standing with a manic grin and obvious bed head.

“Come in, come in! Monarch’s in the living room with the three hatchlings!”

Neptune was practically vibrating in excitement as she stepped inside, having to put her hand against him to keep him from falling out of the scarf from all his wiggling. The house was quiet just like before, but there was some chatter from the living room as they headed in.

From the moment she stepped in, Sierra could already tell the babies were easily as big as Neptune and Mars. Monarch was on his blanket atop the couch, watching as Lemon and Nova relaxed with two of the babies, a third one chittering away and slithering around as fast as it could on the carpet.

“Aw, they really look just like you, Monarch,” Sierra hummed as she slowly sat down a good two feet from Lemon and Nova.

“...thanks,” The Honey Bo hummed faintly, watching as she let Neptune and Mars onto the ground with the others.

The first thing Neptune did was head straight for the two Honey Bo babies, hesitating with Lemon and Nova watching him before making soft noises in response to the chittering. Mars stayed back, watching with mild curiosity, but not nearly as intrigued as Neptune was.

Instead Mars watched the King hatchling that was zipping around the room, loud and sharp with the noises it was making, since none of them were old enough to be catching or mimicking words yet.

“They’re so pretty,” Sierra commented softly, in awe of the black, orange and white markings of the babies that looked just like Monarch.

It was an interesting mutation to his magic, one she hadn’t seen before and one she’d be envious of if it wasn’t on a lamia. Color and mutation breeding wasn’t exactly smiled upon, but it wasn’t illegal either so long as the lamias were fine with it.

The King had the same mutation, but kept the red coloring of his own subspecies with the black and white koi like splotches. It was fascinating, really, considering magic didn’t follow the same rules as genetics.

“If you like them you should take one home,” Sammie jested, elbowing her gently.

Sierra shot her an unimpressed look, sighing quietly, “If I could I would,” She hummed. “Mom would kill me if I did, though, so that’s not happening.”

“Maybe eventually if they don’t get adopted too fast~”

“Sammie, that’s not funny,” Sierra replied back firmly. “Mars and Neptune the only lamias I need. Besides, college is going to be limiting our time long enough, I don’t need another pet thrown into the mix for at least a few years.”

“Fine! Fair enough,” Sammie chuckled, tapping her fingers on the ground and wiggling them until the small King lunged for her hand from where he’d gone under the couch. “So I’m guessing you can’t take them to class?”

“No,” Sierra mumbled, tracing Mars’s tail stripes again from where he was coiled up, watching Neptune and the two hatchlings. “Which sucks. Brea is crappy at keeping them because she doesn’t understand that Biibii needs someone his level of energy, not two lazy snakes to keep him company. So they get to stay in my room with snacks, and I feed them when classes permit.”

“That really does suck,” Sammie hummed, the small King hissing and shrieking as she continuously pulled him back, gently, from where he was trying to slither away in retreat before she finally let him zoom back under the couch.

“So...you are going to find people to adopt the babies out to?”

“Yeah...Monarch wants to keep them around for a month or two. From there I’ll probably look for some people vetted by the rescue I work for to adopt them. I don’t want any of them to end up with a breeder like Monarch did.”

Sierra nodded, “I imagine it’s going to be wild for those two months, huh?” She joked lightly, petting along Mars’ tail with the palm of her hand after he stretched out leisurely to be pet more.

“Oh yeah, these three are going to be growing like crazy. I imagine they’ll be around two, maybe three feet since they’re full sized,” Sammie explained, smiling when the King lunged out again for her fingers.

“Has he flared his hood at all yet?”

“No, he should within the next week or so, though. I’m curious to see what his little pattern is.”

Sierra nodded in agreement, startling slightly when she felt a skeletal hand on her arm where Sammie wasn’t sitting. Glancing over she paused in surprise, Monarch staring back at her for a split second before his gaze flitted elsewhere. She watched and stayed still as he moved forward, taking his time to coil up with his blanket in her lap as best he could before falling still, sockets closed.

Sammie was shaking with her hands in front of her mouth, small giggles escaping her as Mars glared with a soft hiss. Monarch couldn’t seem to care less, if his smug smile was anything to go by as he dozed.

“Seems he’s playing favorites now,” Sammie snorted, giggling more when Mars spat at her, arms crossed and coiling up in a small fit of jealousy that Sierra knew would be soothed soon enough when they headed home.

“I’m probably just warmer than you,” Sierra barely managed to remark, smiling faintly as she hesitantly and gently ran her hand along one of Monarch’s coils.

“Uh huh, you can tell yourself that,” Sammie laughed, relaxing despite the awful little fang marks littering her hand and slowly multiplying the more she played with the King.

Sierra decided she would just think Monarch wanted her warmth. Neptune and Mars both heavily enjoyed being close to her as well when they wanted to be warm, so it made sense that Monarch would enjoy coiling where he could be warm and be close to the hatchlings.

She didn’t mind that her legs were already falling asleep, either. It was worth it to watch Mars and Neptune have some interaction with other bitties and lamias.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sierra's first day at college, as well as Mars and Neptune's first day completely alone. It doesn't end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I finished this finally?? That's terrifying.
> 
> The poll went wonderfully, and thank you to everyone who voted!!! Unfortunately, it ended up at a tie!!!
> 
> That being said, an impartial third party made the final decision for me, and the sequel will be set two years in the future from the end of OSC! c:
> 
> I will be outlining the story soon, and not too long after should be the first chapter!!
> 
> Thank you everyone who's been reading from the beginning when I spammed about 8 chapters in 3 days <3 I never really had a plan for this story until it took its own path, and now it's finished!!! I have not finished a fanfic that was more than a one-shot or 5 chapters since my time on Wattpad with the _awful_ writings I did back in 2014, and this was a huge project for me to stick to.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!!!

“I don’t like this,” Mars huffed, arms crossed.

Everything was set up underneath Sierra’s bed, which she had worked on raising up to the highest level it could to allow herself easier access. All week they’d been working on getting the area ready for her to go to college, and it sucked in more ways than one.

“Well, it’s what we have to work with,” Neptune shrugged, lazily sprawling out beside Mars on the blanket that was spread out under the bed to keep them off the rough carpet. “She’ll be leaving the door open, so it’s not like we’re trapped in here the entire time.”

Mars hissed regardless, irritated that the college wouldn’t let them tag along with Sierra. It wasn’t like they’d cause trouble! At most maybe they’d snore during a lecture while staying in her scarf, so why couldn’t they just go with her?

“Hey,” Neptune hummed, elbowing Mars in the ribs, earning a swat to the arm from the Coral. “At least we don’t have to deal with Brea and Biibii if we don’t want to.”

“Doesn’t outweigh the fact we get to deal with bein’ alone for the majority of the day,” Mars spat, glaring at the door.

Sierra had been downstairs nearly ten minutes now, and she promised not to leave without saying goodbye. Did she lie? Mars doubted it, knowing she was too weak willed to Neptune’s needs to leave at the chance of upsetting the Corny. But, he wouldn’t put it past that bitch of a mother she had to rush her out the door.

Honestly, Mars wouldn’t put it past her to take them back to a shop with Sierra gone if she didn’t have work herself. He didn’t want anything to do with the hag, and for the most part he didn’t. Sierra didn’t trust her with them, and other than the fact she was going off to college, they hadn’t been left alone since...ever.

Neptune sighed, resting his chin on his arms again, shrugging weakly, “At least we get food and access to her laptop while she’s gone. Won’t be too boring.”

“The only good thing about this,” Mars grumbled in reluctant agreement, glancing towards the door as he heard Sierra’s footsteps coming up the stairs.

“Okay...hopefully you guys aren’t bothered having to pull stuff out of a lunchbox, but it’s the closest thing I have to keeping your lunch refrigerated,” Sierra sighed, kneeling down where they were and sliding the lunch box on its side to be at the foot of the bed. “The meat is in ziplocks so you can open it easily...you have all your snacks over there…”

The two lamias watched her quietly, relaxed now that she was back, if only for a few minutes.

“How long before you have you go?” Neptune asked finally, breaking Sierra from her mumbling and nitpicking at where things were for them to access.

Mars didn’t want the answer. He wanted it to be never, or for some exception to be made for them to come with her to her classes. He wanted it to go back to her working at the shop and never having to be more than fifteen feet away from her. Now, Mars and Neptune were going to be several miles away, unable to see her for a few hours at least.

“I should be headed out in the next ten minutes to make it to class on time,” Sierra explained gently, reaching out and rubbing both of their skulls with the pads of her fingers. “I only have two classes today, so I’ll be back before dinner.”

“What about tomorrow?” Mars grumbled, pressing into her touch despite her drawing her hand away.

“Tomorrow I only have one class! So I’ll leave a little earlier in the morning, but I’ll also be back by lunch.”

“That’s good,” Neptune purred faintly. “Means we get ta nap until you get back tomorrow.”

“Exactly, you get to be lazy snakes instead of running around with me to work every day,” Sierra chuckled, her smile faltering faintly as she sighed, reaching out and gently petting over both of their backs and tails.

Neptune eagerly arched into the warmth of her touch, Mars less exaggerated about it, but relaxing into the blanket at the comforting pressure.

“If this week doesn’t go great, maybe we can work something else out, okay? Maybe you guys can spend time at Sammie’s with her bitties and Monarch.”

“And the babies?” Neptune asked, smiling faintly with a soft blush as he perked up.

“And the babies,” Sierra giggled. “We’ll see, maybe I’ll talk to Sammie this evening, make it a once and awhile thing if you guys don’t like being left alone, okay?”

“Okay,” Neptune purred, pressing into her hand once more.

“Now, I really need to get going,” She sighed, standing up. “I will see you two this evening, and maybe I’ll bring back a treat for being such good sports on me having to leave you home.”

Neptune whined faintly but nodded, Mars frowning as he picked at a loose string of the blanket.

“Good luck!” Neptune called as she left.

  
  
  
  


Being left alone wasn’t...horrible, in retrospect. The door was open, the lamp was on and they had access to Sierra’s laptop the entire day.

Mars hadn’t really messed with it like Neptune had, but he wasn’t any less wrapped up in whatever show the Corny had put on. Supposedly Sierra had watched it and that’s why he clicked it, but he was starting to question her tastes considering they’d been watching nothing but crime after crime being solved.

Not that he was complaining, per say, it was very interesting, but it was also very...bloody and violent for something Sierra would watch. There were six seasons and she’d watched them all, it made him curious what else she watched besides the random youtube videos she usually listened to.

Neptune was the one that startled him out of his distracted stare as the main character was shooting people down, the Corny jolting from his spot like he’d been bitten, gaze focused on the door.

“The fuck was that for?” Mars huffed, pausing the show like he’d seen Neptune do.

“I heard the front door,” Neptune hummed, perking up and staring intensely with Mars now, both listening as Sierra came up the stairs.

Neptune was the first one to dart forward when they saw her, Mars staying back as his sockets narrowed slightly. Something was...off. Sierra’s eyes were puffy and faintly pink, obviously shining from previously crying despite the fact she was smiling as she scooped up Neptune. Mars didn’t ask as she picked him up as well, bringing the both of them to her lap as she sat down on the bed.

“How was college?” Neptune asked softly, nuzzling into her touch, trying to wrap around her wrist and cling as close as possible.

“It was alright,” Sierra sighed, rubbing along their skulls and backs, her hands completely taken over by the two, although she didn’t seem to mind one bit. “Boring, as the first year will be…”

“You look upset,” Mars commented, watching as she winced, meeting Neptune’s sharp glance with a hard glare.

It was going to be brought up eventually, he knew Neptune wasn’t dumb enough to not think so. Might as well get it over with, and find out how they could make it better. That was their job now, afterall, she took care of them, they needed to take care of her in return, right?

“Right…” She mumbled softly, staring at Neptune and focusing on just petting them.

Mars let her take her time, relaxing into her hold, relishing in the fact she didn’t have to leave for the rest of the day. It wasn’t even a work day, at that. Neptune seemed just as content to wait for her response as well, his purring more obvious as he clung to her fingers.

“So...the shop…” She started, clearing her throat and taking a moment to breathe as she blinked away tears. “The shops...in the city are being shut down.”

That was...not what Mars was expecting. Neptune had gone stiff, staring up at her with wide sockets.

“Sammie called me right after I got out of class, said the BAA was claiming they weren’t seeing enough profit to keep them open. So, other than helping pack everything up, and getting my last paycheck...there isn’t going to be working at the shop anymore.”

“...what?” Neptune coughed, sitting up now. “But...the shop was always busy! How are they not bringing in enough profit?”

Sierra shook her head slowly, “Sammie said it didn’t make sense either. We were faring better than the other shop at that, but apparently they don’t have to show proof. So, they’re closing the shops…that just leaves me with more free time, I guess.”

“Won’t your mom make you get another job?” Mars mumbled, frowning as he rested his skull against her thumb.

“No...I have college to focus on now, she just wanted me out of the house during the summer,” Sierra chuckled softly. “I’ll have to find somewhere else to work eventually, but it’s not like I need the money right now, I’m pretty lucky...all things considered…”

She shrugged, taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, wiping her eyes on her shoulders.

“What about Sammie?” Neptune asked softly now.

“Sammie...she said she’ll be fine,” Sierra mumbled. “I don’t know what all she does to make an income, but I don’t think the shop was the only thing. Besides, she has her sister to fall back on if she needs…”

They were all quiet for a few minutes, Mars trying to ignore the new information despite the upset boiling in his own soul from the dark cloud hovering over Sierra’s. Neptune simply returned to purring and seeking out her touch before reaching for her, pressing up against her chest when she brought him closer.

“It won’t be too bad...maybe I’ll see if the Bitty Center is taking volunteers or something,” Sierra hummed softly. “Or maybe Sammie knows a rescue nearby...this just...really fucking sucks right now…”

**Author's Note:**

> Make sure to come follow me on Twitter if you like art content as well!
> 
> SFW: https://twitter.com/OnyxianDrake
> 
> NSFW 18+(Your age has to be visible!!): https://twitter.com/UnholyLiar

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Family is where the Love is!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23290264) by [basurtoj15](https://archiveofourown.org/users/basurtoj15/pseuds/basurtoj15)




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